


How Everything Changed

by Alaskaa (kosmicdust)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Airbender Allura (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Avatar Allura, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Earthbender Hunk (Voltron), Firebender Keith (Voltron), Firebender Shiro (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gynesexual Pidge, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pansexual Allura (Voltron), Pidge and Lance are Adoptive Siblings, Prince Keith (Voltron), SLOW BURN ALLURA/PIDGE, Someone's Gonna Die, Waterbender Lance (Voltron), coran is a gorgeous man, give me a good guess as to who's who, i swear i'm not just calling keith a bastard for fun, not as slow burn allura/shiro, shiro loves his tea, slow burn keith/lance, there IS purpose to things okay, there are 60+ episodes of avatar wish me luck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 54,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kosmicdust/pseuds/Alaskaa
Summary: (when the Fire Nation attacked)Pidge and Lance were just minding their own business. Fishing. Having a blast.But then their world turns upside down with an unexpected arrival, and suddenly they can't ever catch a break. It's a little hard to relax when a (according to Lance) beautiful firebender is chasing you all over the world.Keith just wants to go home, and Shiro wants to find happiness in life once more....





	1. The Girl in the Iceberg

**Author's Note:**

> there are a lot of episodes of avatar, but i wrote the first two chapters pretty quickly? so it could take forever or maybe not.  
> (wow i should have started this over the summer instead of waiting)
> 
> if you haven't watched the last airbender and you haven't run away yet, that's okay! basically, there are four civilizations(northern and southern water tribes, the fire nation, the earth kingdom, and the air nomads) and each of them has an elemental magic (so someone from the fire nation can make/control fire). some people have this(it's called bending) and some people don't. the avatar is someone who can master all four elements.
> 
> that's the recap.
> 
> on with the story.

_ Ten thousand years ago,  the world was at peace. In fact, it had been one of the most peaceful eras of known history- but everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Zarkon, the emperor of the Fire Nation, turned on his allies and attacked the rest of the world. The people counted on the Avatar, Avatar Alfor, to save them, but he mysteriously vanished when the world needed him most. _

_ The next Avatar was meant to be an airbender, but the Air Nomads were the first to be attacked by Zarkon’s fleets, and their civilization was destroyed. It was so long since there had been any sign of the Avatar that people were beginning to lose hope. _

_ Until… _

“Pidge!” Lance yelled, annoyed.

Pidge only shrugged, a small smirk on their face. “You would have gotten it if you were faster. You’re the one with magic, remember?”

“It’s not ‘ _ magic’ _ ,” Lance insisted. “It’s  _ waterbending _ , Pidge. Power over water and stuff.”

“Yeah,” Pidge scoffed, rolling their eyes. “Magic.”

Lance scowled. “You’re just jealous that you’re not a bender.” He leaned over the side of the boat, scanning the water for any sign of fish. Of course, there was nothing. Pidge had probably scared all the fish away with their sarcastic comments. Too bad Lance was stuck on the boat  _ with _ Pidge.

“No, I think I’m good,” Pidge shrugged. “What fun would throwing rocks around be, anyway? Not at all.”

Lance only flinched slightly at that comment. It was easy to forget that Pidge, despite Lance’s sibling-like relationship with them, was not, in fact, from the Southern Water Tribe. Not from the Northern Water Tribe, either. Their  _ freakishly pale _ skin made that obvious. Pidge was actually from somewhere in the Earth Kingdom- nobody was quite sure where, exactly. The Earth Kingdom, from what Lance had heard, was pretty big. And Pidge was pretty small.

Pidge had been- what, ten?- when Lance and…  _ Veronica _ … had found them shipwrecked. They probably would have died had Lance not wanted to try sledding that day. Apparently, Pidge had been in search of their father and brother, who had disappeared without a trace. They had been okay with staying here, in the Southern Water Tribe.

Not that staying here was a great choice. Because maybe a year later, the Fire Nation had attacked their village- this village was all that was left of the Southern Water Tribe- and nearly all of Lance’s entire family had died. His mother. His sister, Veronica. His little brothers, Luis and Marco. Just like that, they were gone. Lance had clung to Pidge as his only “sibling” left. Now they were inseparable.

Six years later, here they were. Fishing. Hooray.

The boat suddenly lurched, and Lance shook himself out of his thoughts, realizing that he didn’t recognize their surroundings at all, and they were surrounded by… ice. Lots of ice.

“Pidge, what-? What have you been doing?”

“Trying to make a usable paddle!” Pidge exclaimed, waving the wood in the air. “What are  _ you _ doing, mister ‘stare off into space’?”

“I was  _ thinking! _ ” he hissed. Lance grabbed the other vaguely paddle-shaped wood off the seat next to him and began rapidly rowing, trying to steer them out. It… didn’t work. Obviously. Why would it ever be that easy?

His shoulders dropped as he kept rowing fruitlessly before he brightened. “Pidge, take over the rowing! I’m going to use my  _ waterbending _ .”

Pidge’s eyes widened. “What? Lance, no! You can barely control it when you’re not stressed out over a life-or-death situation!”

“Focus, Pidge!” Lance exclaimed, taking a deep breath, trying to relax. Don’t hit the boat on any ice. Right. He could do this. There was a clear patch over… there. Easy. Just get the boat over there.

Carefully, he started manipulating the water, trying to  _ convince _ it, almost, to push the ice out of the way, clearing the path. Lance heard a few cracks that could’ve been the ice or the boat, but he didn’t turn around. He squeezed his eyes shut, his hands curling into fists.

After a few moments, Pidge cheered. Lance carefully cracked an eye open.

“Lance, you did it! I had no idea you could do that!” They grinned.

“Of course, Pidge, what do you take me for, an amateur?” Lance laughed, his smile just as big as theirs.

Then he heard that same cracking of ice as before.

Slowly, Lance turned around, to see a  _ massive _ iceberg. And it was… glowing. He squinted, trying to see what was causing the light.

“There’s someone in there!” Pidge exclaimed. “Lance, you gotta get them out!”

Lance nodded, swallowing. He was already kind of exhausted- did he really have enough strength left in him to break someone out of an iceberg?

Well, there was only one way to figure out the answer.

So Lance concentrated again, and he heard the cracking again, until it… stopped. The iceberg broke open, and a beam of light shot into the sky.

…

Keith scowled at the dark water below the ship. This  _ sucked. _ It seriously  _ sucked _ . He wanted to go back home, to the warm Fire Nation, where there wasn’t any ice. If he never saw ice like this again, he would die happy.

Too bad he  _ couldn’t _ go back to the Fire Nation. It had seriously been four years- why couldn’t he go home? Four years of hunting for some old, probably dead guy. Why couldn’t the Avatar just  _ find themselves _ and leave Keith out of it?

Keith regretted so, so much. Why had he not appreciated the Fire Nation more when he had it?

“Hey, Keith.” Shiro’s voice behind him made Keith jump. “This place sure is fun, isn’t it?”

“I need to burn someone,” Keith said bitterly. “Or really, burn myself, match my cheek. It’s so  _ cold _ .” His hand unconsciously reached up towards the burn scar on his face. All his fault. As usual.

“Yeah…” Shiro sighed. “Maybe some tea will warm you up?” His gentle, teasing smile did  _ not _ help Keith. How could any sane person think about  _ smiling _ in this place? It was  _ not _ made for firebenders, that much was sure.

“What is it with you and your  _ tea addiction? _ ” Keith complained, his scowl deepening. “Seriously, Shiro.”

“Keith.” Shiro’s warning voice made the hair on his neck stand up, and Keith deflated, sighing.

“Yeah, I know, it’s just…” He trailed off, looking off into the distance- and definitely got rewarded for it. “Shiro! Look!”

“Why is there a random beam of light in the South Pole?” Shiro asked, with way too much confusion to be genuine. He  _ had to know _ . He had been right there with Keith for the past four years.

“It’s the Avatar, Shiro, it  _ has to be! _ After so long… we could finally go home, Shiro!”

“Look, Keith, you’ve thought you found the Avatar so many times over the years,” Shiro said sensibly. “This could just be another false alarm. So relax, drink some tea, and we’ll get there when we get there.”

“No, Shiro!” Keith exclaimed. As much as he wanted to go back into the cabin, where it was warm, he wanted to be  _ home _ more. He waved over one of the crew members. “Hey! Tell the captain to bring us over to that light!”

The man nodded quickly and darted away. Keith tensed as the ship turned, headed towards the light, which was fading by now.

The Fire Nation was  _ so close _ . There was no reason to have those kinds of lights in the middle of nowhere. This had to be it.

_ It has to be. _

…

When the ice cracked apart, the figure slowly became more and more visible. The beam of light slowly faded, revealing a girl with white hair. She stumbled towards them, and Lance rushed over to her. She fell into his arms.

“Well,  _ hello… _ ” Lance said upon seeing her face. She was… beautiful. There were markings on her cheeks and her hands. Arrows? Her smooth, dark skin glowed in the afternoon light. Her eyes practically  _ sparkled _ .

“What…?”

Oh, even her  _ voice _ was beautiful. Lance might be in love.

“Who… who are you? Where am I?” the girl asked, fluttering her eyes in a way that probably shouldn’t be appealing, but it  _ was!  _ Really!

“I’m Lance, and you’re right here in my arms.”

“Ugh, Lance, can you contain your bisexualness for once in your life?” Pidge demanded from behind Lance and the strange girl. They wandered up into Lance’s line of sight. “The name’s Pidge. You’re at the South Pole. Southern Water Tribe.”

“Oh!” the girl said, nodding as if everything made sense. She then turned and frowned. “How long has it been?”

“What?” Pidge and Lance asked.

“Since I was trapped in the ice. A few weeks, perhaps…?” She pulled herself from Lance’s arms with a frown and studied them. “My name is Allura. I hail from the Southern Air Temple.”

“Wait, Air Temple?” Lance asked with a frown. “Those guys are still kicking?”

“Sorry?” Allura said, shocked. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, everyone thinks that they were wiped out by the Fire Nation, what, ten thousand years ago?” Pidge said.

Allura’s hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Ten thousand years? It- that’s impossible!” She turned around, studying the remains of the iceberg. “Coran? Are you there?”

A head full of bright orange hair popped up from the ice. “Allura?”

“Coran, get up! We must get back to the temple immediately!” Allura exclaimed.

Lance and Pidge watched this exchange with matching confused expressions. Were these people… really locked in here for ten thousand years? That was crazy! So crazy! Lance didn’t know what to say. And… they were airbenders. Maybe the last airbenders left in the whole world.

“Is Voltron there, Coran?” Allura asked nervously.

“What’s Voltron?” Pidge asked.

“Voltron is our winged lion,” Coran offers. “She’s quite a charming one, if I do say so myself!”

“Winged lion?” Lance mouthed to Pidge, who only shrugged with a helpless expression. Neither of them had any idea what was going on.

A roar shook the empty, cold air. The ice vibrated under Lance’s feet. A creature surged out of the ice. And… it was a winged lion. A giant winged lion.

“It was lovely to meet you, Lance and Pidge,” Allura said with a pained expression, “But we must return to the Southern Air Temple immediately. It’s important that we find out what we missed the past ten thousand years.”

“Ten thousand years?” Coran echoed, accompanied by a soft grunt from Voltron. “I didn’t think you were that powerful already…”

Allura walked over to the winged lion and climbed up onto her back, Coran following suit.

“Let’s be off,” Allura says to Voltron. She doesn’t respond. Allura frowns. “Voltron? Go on, fly.” The winged lion shakes Allura and Coran off.

Allura looks up at Voltron with a confused expression for a moment before sighing. She turned back to Lance and Pidge, who were still watching them with clueless faces. “I suppose we won’t be going anywhere now, so… could we accompany you back to your village?”

“Sure,” Lance said, although Pidge glared at him. “Guess we can do that…”

The four of them pile into Lance and Pidge’s boat, slowly making the journey back home. It was… awkward. Nobody knew what to say. The giant creature swimming behind them didn’t make it any better.

“So… has the Fire Nation attacked many other civilizations?” Allura asked, breaking the tension.

“Ba Sing Se was under attack for six years straight,” Pidge said. “They’ve conquered most of the Earth Kingdom, but Ba Sing Se is still free.”

Not to be left out, Lance adds, “We think the Northern Water Tribe is still free, but we haven’t had contact with them in years. The Fire Nation tried to attack here but… we fought them off.” He frowns as the memories rush back to him.

Allura sighed and tugged at her long hair. “This is all my fault.”

“There’s nothing you could have done, Allura,” Coran said gently.

The sat in silence the rest of the way there.

…

“Keith, you need sleep,” Shiro said softly, coming up behind him.

Keith whirled around, a deep scowl on his face. “No, Shiro! This is probably the closest we’ve come in  _ years! _ The Avatar might… like, attack or something while we’re not paying attention! They probably hate the Fire Nation, like everyone else! I’m not risking everything on a little bit of sleep.”

Shiro gave a long sigh. “I can’t convince you, okay… but really, Keith. Consider it. You don’t need to torture yourself because your father says you should.”

Keith flinches at the words and turns back to watching the horizon, his eyes fixed on the spot that the light had come from. He wasn’t… torturing himself. And it’s not his father’s fault, either.  _ Keith _ had screwed up.  _ Keith _ had lost his honor. And here he was, four years later,  _ so close _ to regaining his father’s love, the respect of his people,  _ everything _ .

Keith couldn’t be worthless.

“Look, Keith… what if you never capture the Avatar?”

Keith stiffens. “Don’t say that.”

“If the Avatar is still around, there’s a reason they’re still in hiding. You’re not going to find them anytime soon.”

“Shut up!” Keith cried, whirling back to Shiro. “Shut  _ up, _ Shiro! Go drink your tea or whatever! You don’t  _ get it!” _

Shiro shook his head at Keith before turning away and slipping through the door to the interior of the ship.

Keith loved Shiro to death- he would much rather have Shiro as his brother than  _ Lotor _ \- but he just didn’t know when to stop, sometimes. His words impacted Keith deeply.

He hated it.

…

Pidge checked that Lance was fast asleep in his bundle of furs before sneaking out. The cold bit at their cheeks, and they shivered. They quietly entered Allura’s tent. Coran was in the one next to Allura’s, but Pidge wasn’t interested in Coran.

No, it was  _ Allura _ that had secrets.

“Oh, hello, Pidge,” Allura said, looking up from where she was fiddling with her loose hair. “What are you doing here?”

Normally, those words would make Pidge angry, but something about the way Allura said it kept Pidge calm.

“I was actually wondering, since you’re an airbender and all… what do you know about the Avatar?” Pidge was careful to frame the question as just that- a question. Not an accusation. But Allura’s stiffening and sharp intake of breath gave her away.

Allura knew something. Pidge was right.

“Nothing much,” Allura answered lightly, convincing enough to almost make Pidge drop it, but that reaction was too damning for them to let it go. Allura was  _ hiding something _ . What? Did she know the Avatar? Or was  _ she _ the Avatar? Pidge wasn’t quite sure yet.

“...sure,” Pidge said eventually. They didn’t want to push Allura. They barely even knew the girl! So… she got up quietly and walked out. “Goodnight, Allura.”

“Goodnight, Pidge,” Allura responded softly.

Allura’s accent was really nice.

…

Allura had a nightmare that night.

_ “Go, Allura!” _

_ The blue, blue ocean below. _

_ Falling. _

_ Falling. _

_ Cold. _

_ A small light. _

_ Warmth wrapping around her. _

_ Darkness. _

“Allura! Allura, wake up!”

She woke to Pidge, Lance, and Coran peering at her anxiously.

“Are you alright, Allura?” Coran asked.

“I’m fine. It was just a dream.” Allura tried for a smile. She wasn’t sure if it turned out right or not.

“Cool, because the entire village wants to meet you guys!” Lance exclaimed, grinning. “Come on, come on!” He ushered the four of them outside, where Allura was greeted with…

… a lot more people than she expected. More people than she’d seen in  _ forever _ .

“Entire village, Allura and Coran. Allura and Coran, entire village,” Pidge said flatly, gesturing between their fellow civilians and the Air Nomads.

“Hello?” Allura greeted nervously, cautiously waving her hand. Oh, was that still in fashion? Maybe it meant something else these days?

“Why are they staring at us in such an… unnerving way?” Coran asked Lance rather loudly.

“My apologies,” a woman said kindly, shaking her head. “It’s just that we believed airbenders to be extinct.”

“Are you guys airbenders?” a little boy asked excitedly.

“I’m not, unfortunately, but Allura here is!” Coran offered. “Go on, Allura, show them the magic.”

Allura stared at the people- okay, there weren’t really that many people.

_ “See, I told you it was magic!”- “It’s not  _ magic, _ Pidge!” _

She ignored Lance and Pidge’s conversation behind her and carefully formed a ball of air, slowly spinning, in her palm.

“Woah, that’s so cool!”

Soon, the villagers were asking her if she could do some trick or another, and Allura relaxed. This was… fun. This was okay.

She could let loose sometimes. She wasn’t in the Southern Air Temple anymore.

That thought was rather bittersweet.

…

“Again.”

Keith panted as he pulled his fists back to his face. He was getting sloppy. He wasn’t strong enough. How was Keith supposed to defeat the Avatar if he couldn’t even beat Shiro’s expectations?

He redid the combination, pushing all of his anger at the world in general out into his firebending.

“You have to relax, Keith,” Shiro said, which only caused Keith to bristle. Shiro  _ knew _ how much Keith hated those words. “Firebending comes from your breath, not your muscles. It goes from your breath through your veins, and releases into the world through  _ fire _ .”

Shiro stood and did the same combination as Keith. His looked much better than Keith’s.

Of course it did.

“Try again,” Shiro told him, sitting back down, taking a sip of his tea.

Keith did it again, but, as usual, it wasn’t good enough. Why wasn’t he good enough? He would  _ never _ be good enough, would he? Keith would  _ never _ come home with the Avatar, would never see the ponds in the courtyard, would never see the world from at his father’s side.

“Stop,” Shiro sighed.

“We’ve been drilling this move all day!” Keith exclaimed. “Shiro, you have to teach me something… helpful! Something that’ll help me get  _ through this!” _

“You’re not ready,” Shiro said gently. “You have to master the basics, and you’re getting impatient.”

“I  _ am  _ ready!” Keith insisted. “The Avatar has had over ten thousand years to train. I won’t be able to beat them with ‘ _ basic firebending’ _ !”

Shiro let out a long, exasperated breath. “Fine. I’ll teach you another set.  _ But  _ I’m going to be finishing my lunch first.”

Keith watched Shiro leave him on deck for what felt like the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours. That man really got on his nerves sometimes. But Keith loved him like a brother- a much-needed replacement for his own half-brother.

He was so glad he had Shiro instead of Lotor. Except… Lotor would never have gotten himself into this mess. Lotor was somewhere being pampered as the only valid prince of what was practically an empire. Keith was just… some bastard runt that his father took pity on.

_ You’re spiraling again, Keith, _ a voice in his mind that sounded suspiciously like Shiro told him.  _ Spiraling… _

…

“Hey, Allura?”

She turned at the sound of Lance’s voice- which was surprisingly soothing, after the crowd of people whose voices clamored for attention in her mind. “Hello, Lance.”

“I was wondering… if you would be able to teach me to waterbend?”

Allura stiffened as she stared at him for a moment. Did he know? But the request seemed genuine.

Lance caught her uneasy stare and shook his head. “I mean- not that I expect you to be able to do that, I guess, because you’re an airbender and I’m a waterbender, so it’s obviously not the same, but…?” He looked at her hopefully, almost pleadingly.

“Are none of your own people available to teach you?” Allura asked, confused as to why he had asked her instead of someone he knew. They were strangers! He had broken her out of an  _ iceberg _ yesterday for quiznak’s sake!

A flash of sorrow appeared in Lance’s expression, but it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. “No, you’re looking at the last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe.”

“And you said you had cut off contact with your sister tribe?”

Lance nodded, looking surprised that she had remembered. Truthfully, Allura was as well. She had never retained information well in her lessons.

“Yeah, so I guess you’re sort of my last resort…” He looked away with a sigh.

Allura knew how that felt. She studied him for a moment, the defeated slope of his shoulders, his lost eyes. Was that what Lance was really like, behind the show he put on for people?

She empathized with the boy, she really did. And that was why Allura quickly said, “Yes.”

Lance looked up at her, shocked. “Really?”

“It won’t translate directly, but I will do my best to help you,” Allura vowed. “And if you would like, perhaps we- Voltron, and I, along with Coran- could fly you to the North Pole, to learn from a real waterbending master.”

Lance’s grin was blinding.

Across the open space of the village, Allura could  _ feel _ Pidge’s suspicious stare. They weren’t subtle at all. They knew Allura had a secret.

And that was why Allura approached Pidge with a small smile. “Care to go exploring with me?

…

“What is that?" Allura asked, shocked. She stared up at the hulking mass of metal ahead.

"That's a Fire Nation ship," Pidge told her grimly. “Apparently it was part of the first attacks. All I know for sure is that it’s been here a long, long time. Everyone thinks it’s filled with traps, and that’s why nobody’s ever gone in there.”

Allura nodded, a frown on her face. “Well, I believe we should go inside.”

“ _ What? _ ” Pidge demanded, their eyes wide. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“If it’s closer to my time than now, it may contain helpful information on the area and what happened to the Southern Air Temple.” As she said those words, they finally started to sink in.

It had been ten thousand years.

Nearly everyone she knew was dead.

There was no “going back to the Air Temple” because it was empty. There were no  _ airbenders _ . Her entire civilization, gone.

Pidge gave Allura a sidelong glance before nodding. “Okay.” They took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

They climbed the rocks- were they rocks, ice, or a combination?- and carefully stepped through the gap in the hull. Inside, the halls were long and dark. There were distant sounds of metal clashing and chains clanking.

Allura and Pidge walked through the eerie ship cautiously. Every other room they glanced in, it seemed, contained deadly weapons.

“It amazes me how cruel people can become over the course of ten thousand years,” Allura said with a sigh, picking up a spear gently and studying it. “The world seemed… perhaps slightly tense, without the Avatar, but… it was peaceful. Nothing like this.” Her fingertips danced over the pointed end.

“Ten thousand years is such a long time,” Pidge whispered. “I can’t imagine that- falling asleep one day and waking up another day thousands of years in the future.”

“Zarkon was a disgrace to all that is good,” Allura declared, her voice barely short of a snarl. “I cannot believe my- believe that Avatar Alfor trusted him.”

“Zarkon?” Pidge echoed, their eyes suddenly widening. “You… you have no idea. Allura, he’s still alive.”

“What?”

The spear dropped to the floor as Allura stared at Pidge. “That… that’s impossible!”

“It’s true,” Pidge said. “His son, Lotor, and his wife, Honerva, are still around, too. He had another son, I think, but pretty recently, so I guess he didn’t get the genes.”

“That…” Allura covered her face with her hands. “Unbelievable.”

“Believe it,” Pidge replied sarcastically with a snort. “I’m so glad I’m only sixteen.”

After a little while longer- they were on the bridge, as far as Allura could tell- Pidge spoke up again.

“I think it’s time we head back,” they said. “It’s been a while, I think. Lance’ll probably be all worried.”

“I a-” Allura began to say before she tripped on a wire covered in snow. The door slammed shut behind them, and the technology began smoking. “What’s going on?”

“This place is filled with traps, remember?” Pidge said urgently. They approached the devices on the wall, reaching out to touch one, but the moment their fingers met the glass, they flinched back, as though they had been burned. “I- I can’t do anything.”

They both turned toward the windows on the wall, and watched with wide eyes as a flair was launched into the sky.

Allura looked around the room desperately before spotting a hatch. “There!” She launched herself out, then turned to help Pidge out.

Then Allura ran faster than she ever thought she could.

…

Keith’s hands shook as he raised the magnifier towards the ancient ship that had set off the flair. There, not even a quarter mile from it, were two people. A person with short, choppy brown hair that he didn’t particularly care about, and a woman with white hair. They were running towards the Water Tribe village that, for some reason, his father had failed to conquer.

The Avatar.

“Wake Shirogane,” he ordered a nearby crew member. “Tell him that I’ve found the Avatar.”

…


	2. Return of the Avatar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lance needs to stop falling in love with every new person he meets.  
> also, accurate description of how to wrap your hands properly.

Pidge and Allura had slowed to a walk by the time they reached the village. The people who had been smiling earlier weren’t so happy anymore. Pidge was prepared to argue on Allura’s behalf- the airbender had done nothing wrong. Allura hadn’t known the risks. Pidge  _ had _ . So if anyone was to take the blame for this, it was Pidge.

“What’s going on?” Lance demanded, standing at the front of the group. “What happened? That was a Fire Nation flair.”

“We accidentally set it off,” Pidge said, narrowing their eyes at their adopted brother. “That doesn’t matter now. They’re going to try and take out our village, because it’s  _ convenient, _ just like last time. And we don’t have all of the people we used to.”

Lance nodded slowly, the concentrated focus in preparation for the upcoming battle showing in his eyes. Pidge knew that look. Pidge  _ believed _ in that look. Lance would come up with something, and if he couldn’t, then everyone else would help him.

“Alright,” Lance said. “We don’t know how soon they’ll get here, so we can’t evacuate. That’s something they’d probably notice, too. So we have to stand our ground and fight. Allura, Coran, is that something you can do?”

“I’ll do what I can,” Allura promised.

“I’m not so good at the whole combat thing myself,” Coran explained. “More of an… advisory role?”

“Okay,” Lance says, taking it in stride. “Then make sure the defenses get reinforced. Get all the kids inside. Everyone who can fight will be out here.”

“What about me?” Pidge asked.

“Have you made anything new lately?” Lance asked them.

“I made a sort of weapon that I can use,” Pidge offered. “There’s not enough time to teach anyone else how to use it, but I can.”

Lance’s eyes briefly flashed with worry- Pidge knew he was thinking of the last time the Fire Nation attacked them. They knew he didn’t want to lose any more of his family. And he wouldn't. Because Pidge would stand up and fight this time.

“That works,” Lance agreed. “Everyone, prepare for a battle.”

People rushed off in different directions while Lance turned to the tent he shared with Pidge. They knew what he was going to do. Pidge didn’t want to interrupt that. So they ran into the tent, grabbed the weapon, and left before Lance arrived.

War paint was very important to Lance’s family.

“Pidge?” Coran called.

Pidge looked up at the man. “Yes?”

“Would you mind keeping an eye on Allura in battle?” Coran asked. “You seem to be closest to her, and I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”

“Sure,” Pidge agreed. “Good luck.”

Coran gave a firm nod back.

Pidge held the weapon steady in their hand. It was one-handed, carved of wood that they had spent painstaking hours polishing, with a blade made of whale bone.

They could do this. They could do this.

…

“Could I have a change of clothes? For battle, of course. A helmet would be appreciated as well.”

…

Lance took a deep breath, looking down at his ceremonial armor. It was barely armor at all- just a little bit more than what he normally wore. But… it would be enough.

Grabbing the cloth, he wrapped his hands.

Six.

Four.

Wrist, finger.

Wrist, finger.

Wrist, finger.

Wrist, finger.

Thumb.

Two.

Three.

Lance tugged on his boots, then turned to the trays of paint in front of him. He took a deep breath. The last time he had done this was… a long time ago.

Carefully, he began applying the paint.

Black.

Grey.

White.

He slid his boomerang- in case the whole waterbending thing didn’t work out so well- into its sheath.

Lance was ready.

…

Keith kind of hated this part of battle.

Not just the weird space between the threat and the actual fighting, but- letting people strap on his armor and tie his boots? It wasn’t as nice as you would think. He pushed them away when they went after his hair.

Keith really loved his hair, which was typical of a lot of Fire Nation people. It was long and black, usually reaching to his lower back when it was let loose. The haircut hadn’t truly been his choice- but then again, what was? The haircut was made to match Lotor’s.

Lotor wore it better.

He shooed the people out the door, grabbing a ribbon from the table and tying his hair up in a high ponytail. That was the only part of this Keith liked. The sense that he had  _ accomplished something, _ all by himself.

That was really pathetic, wasn’t it? He supposed, then, that it matched him. Pathetic thoughts for a pathetic person.

…

Lance, Allura, and Pidge stood at the front of the village. As it turned out, the number of people who could fight was “not a lot”. So it was up to them to stop the Fire Nation, along with a few backup fighters.

A loud cracking noise sounded. The ice rumbled under their feet. When Lance looked up, he realized why.

The ship was literally  _ sailing through the ice. _

The nerve of these people! Why couldn’t they just leave everyone alone? Or at least not ruin the South Pole? That would be very nice, thank you.

The Fire Nation ship continued heading toward them. It got so close that Lance could reach out and touch the smooth metal.

The cracks in the ice spread straight through the village, nearly dividing it in half. People were screaming. Lance kind of wanted to scream, too. But he couldn’t. Because he had to be strong for his family.

Lance glanced at Pidge and Allura before backing away from the ship. Pidge and Allura followed suit. They regrouped in their line in the center of the village.

A hissing sound came from the ship, and it opened up with a puff of smoke, creating a ramp.

A man- no, a  _ boy _ , he couldn’t be much older than Lance himself- stepped out, and  _ wow, _ something malfunctioned in Lance’s brain, because this guy was the most beautiful thing Lance had ever seen. Long, silky-looking hair, sharp features, a scar on his cheek that only added to his appearance, big eyes that looked  _ purple- _ was that even possible?

The boy strode down the ramp with purpose, two soldiers following behind him.

“Close your mouth, quit looking like you want to eat him,” Pidge hissed at Lance.

Oh, was his mouth open? Lance quickly closed it, refocusing his attention on the boy.

The boy, who finished walking down the ramp and kept walking anyway, who was now standing in front of Lance, barely two feet away. Yup, his eyes were purple. And he looked maybe even a little shorter than Lance! How was this fair? Why did Lance have to get the one good-looking general in the Fire Nation?

“Where are you hiding them?” The boy asked, his eyes scanning the village rapidly with an urgency that Lance didn’t quite understand. When nobody replied, he narrowed his eyes. “They would be old. As old as my- as the Emperor. Master of all four elements?”

Allura and Pidge were both tense. Lance felt nothing but raw emotion. Lots of emotions, really. Primal urges. Lots of conflicting urges. But that didn’t stop his stupidity.

“Are you talking about the  _ Avatar?” _ Lance asked.

The boy’s eyes flicked to him, and that  _ attention _ on Lance was just… so unfair. The world was so cruel. “Yes, the  _ Avatar. _ Who else would I be talking about?”

“I don’t know!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “It’s been, like, ten thousand years, dude. Calm down. There could be some new elemental guy. Evolution is a thing, right?”

Lance could have sworn he heard soft laughter from the boy.

“No, unfortunately, I am  _ not _ searching for anyone else. I  _ know _ the Avatar must be here.” The boy’s gaze flitted from each one of them before settling on Lance once again. “I have fire. And this is a lot of ice.”

Awesome vague threats from enemies quote number forty-eight.

“We don’t have the Avatar,” Pidge insisted, finally speaking up. “There’s no point in fighting.”

The boy turned to Pidge with a scowl. “You were there, with the Avatar. On the ship.”

Pidge  _ definitely _ gave a soft laugh. Although, it wasn’t very soft. More of a harsh laugh. “You guys think that the Avatar is…?” They broke down laughing once again.

The boy hesitated, looking  _ severely confused- _ how did he look so cute like that?- before silently holding up his hand and letting a small fire burn above his palm.

Hot. Literally.

Lance’s sudden attraction was  _ really _ inconvenient and not helping? At all?

“Even if we did have the Avatar, we wouldn’t give them to you,” Allura said firmly. “And we will not let you destroy this village.”

The boy nodded, frowning at Allura, before lunging at her, fire nearly licking her helmet. Allura backed away, looking to Pidge for help, who jumped towards the boy and attempted to strike. He turned swiftly and sent fire roaring at Pidge.

Lance’s protective instincts finally kicked in and he hurled his boomerang first. The boy gave him a flat look as he dodged it.

“Boomerang always comes back,” Lance insisted before jumping into the fray.

This Fire Nation boy was fast, but not fast enough to fight all three of them, plus the other two villagers who joined the battle. The Fire Nation soldiers began fighting as well. Lance noted the lack of reinforcements. What was this guy doing out here, anyway? With so few people?

He was dragged back to reality with a thump on his head as he fell to the ground. Pidge tackled the soldier who had thrown him there, leaving Lance with an opening to get to the boy, who was fighting Allura. Allura, at some point, had found a staff, and was quite good at fighting with it.

But Lance wanted to have a nice conversation with this guy, so he darted over and shoved him to the ground while he was distracted. The boy looked up with a strange expression on his face before grinning and blasting fire in Lance’s face. Lance barely managed to save himself from a burn- although that scar on the boy’s face was quite nice- with drawing water from the cracks. At least those were good for something.

That drew Lance and the stranger into a drawn-out battle that seemed like it might never end. Fire against water, neither of them getting the upper hand for long.

…

Keith…

He wasn’t quite sure what was going on. He did get a kick out of trying that mock-interrogation thing, though. Shiro was right about something, at least. He’d definitely be happy about that.

But all of a sudden he was stuck in this  _ endless _ fight with a stranger that couldn’t keep his eyes off Keith? It was all very, very strange.

The stranger suddenly looked over Keith’s shoulder at something, then returned his gaze to meet Keith’s.

“You got a name, sweetheart?” the stranger asked in an overly-sweet voice. “I’m Lance. Nice to meet ya.”

Keith only had a second to process how refreshing it was for someone to not know who he was before that stupid  _ boomerang _ hit him in the head. He fell down, eyes watering slightly, which meant a lot, because Keith had a  _ really high _ pain tolerance.

He managed to glance around at the others, who had all fallen. Great. He had failed, and it was doubtful that Shiro would come down here and fight. Sure, the guy would come bail him out later, but… it was still  _ awful. _

But then Keith caught a glimpse of silver-white hair, and his eyes widened.

“The Avatar?” he said. Or asked? He wasn’t totally sure. The world was spinning a little bit. It felt like he might throw up. At least being on his hands and knees was probably better than standing in this situation.

Then the woman was holding him up by the collar- which was scary, yeah, definitely. Her hair was, in fact, white.

“Do you have something to say?” the woman asked him.

“Are you the Avatar?” Keith managed to ask. How was it that everything was getting worse by the second?

The woman’s expression faltered for a second before returning to that calm, in-control look that Keith had always strived for.

“Yes. I am.”

She said it so matter-of-factly that it was impossible for it to have been a lie.

Tears pricked at Keith’s eyes now for a different reason. This was  _ proof. _ This was the  _ Avatar! _ Soon he could go home, and his exile would be over. Home of warmth and fire and  _ memories _ .

“Is he okay?” someone might have asked, Keith wasn’t totally sure.

“He should stay here to rot,” someone else might have said.

“He’s probably got more friends in there, he’ll be fine. As long as we get this ship out of our village.”

Was it a bad idea to let the helmsman just go straight through the ice? Probably.

“Thank you,” Keith tried to say, though it probably came out slurred. “For… for the Avatar? I-I want to go home… now? F-four years…”

It was a relief for his eyes to slip closed and let him… sleep.

…

Allura wondered what it would be like if she had just given herself up to the soldiers. Would she have escaped? Would everything be okay? Or would she end up locked in a prison in the Fire Nation?

But… she kind of liked this ending better. It was… nicer. Significantly less suffering. Everyone was okay, more or less.

Unless you counted the passed-out firebender tied up on the floor. He didn’t seem all that okay. She was surprised that Lance’s waterbending and boomerang were enough to do that to someone of this boy’s caliber. Perhaps Lance was stronger than he seemed. The boy seemed to have a concussion.

Allura didn’t care much for that. The boy had done terrible things just in the past hour. He didn’t deserve mercy. Frankly, he was lucky he was even inside.

“So… what are we going to do with this guy?” Pidge asked, gesturing to the floor.

“Keith,” Lance blurted out. Allura stared at him in confusion, as did Pidge. “His name, I mean. It’s Keith.”

Pidge snorted. “And when did you have time for this, loverboy?”

Lance’s face flushed. “Just because I attract men and women everywhere and you don’t doesn’t mean you have to criticize my life choices, Pidge.”

Pidge rolled their eyes.

“We could use him as a bargaining chip,” Allura suggested. “I assume he’s important, if he was sent to face the Avatar… me… although I don’t particularly want to act like a person is simply a tool.”

“Hold up, can we talk about that?” Lance demanded. “You’re the  _ Avatar?” _

“I had a feeling,” Pidge put in, grinning down at Lance. “It was pretty obvious. Ten thousand years in ice, airbender? You’re just oblivious.”

Allura gave a tired smile. “Yes.” Then she paused. “Where is Coran?” It wasn’t like the man to disappear during an important conversation.

“I think he was doing some medical stuff,” Lance said. “Which we should probably do, too? I mean, I was almost burned a lot today.”

“Can we leave this guy alone, though?” Pidge asked. “Like, I’m getting the feeling he’s faking sleep and he’ll escape when our backs are turned.”

“We could just drag him through the village with us,” Lance suggested.

Allura and Pidge’s dark looks were enough to silence that train of thought.

In the end, they tied him to a chair and left the room.

…

Lance wasn’t totally sure  _ how _ he felt about Keith. On the one hand, obviously, evil bad guy who needed to be stopped, but on the other, he had been muttering stuff about going home? After… maybe four years, if he was interpreting that correctly?

Who exactly  _ was _ Keith, anyway?

He kind of felt bad for him. It probably wasn’t easy to leave the Fire Nation.

Lance thought about this as Coran gently tended to his injuries, which was greatly appreciated. It was all very conflicting.

When he was finished, all four of them agreed to offer Keith in exchange for the Fire Nation leaving them alone for a little while- just a little bit? catch a break? come back never? Of course, Lance’s  _ amazing _ “feelings” for Keith sealed the deal as Lance going into enemy territory and negotiating some sort of truce.

He solemnly walked up the ramp, where soldiers were waiting.

“Is this for a truce?” one of them asked.

Lance nodded timidly.

“Excellent. General Shirogane offers peace and our leave of the South Pole in exchange for Prince Keith.”

_ Prince? That explains some stuff. _

“Well, that was actually… um… our truce, too!” Lance exclaimed, trying to sound confident. “So… deal!”

“A Fire Nation soldier always keeps their word,” the soldiers around him said. Strangely, that relaxed Lance a little bit.

“So… I’ll go get Keith, or the Prince, or whatever, and you guys will leave.” After a nod of agreement, Lance runs back down the ramp.

“Did they agree to our terms?” Allura asked.

“Yeah,” Lance said, a little bit out of breath. “I’ll get Keith, I guess?”

“Go ahead,” Coran said, smiling cheerfully.

Lance unties Keith from the chair- although keeps the ropes on his wrists and ankles secure- and throws him over his shoulder. The guy is actually pretty light.

Lance marched back outside and up the ramp. He gave Keith to the soldiers, then ran back to land and watched as the Fire Nation warship left.

This was a job well done.

…

Pidge smiles at the distant sunset. They had watched it for years, but it had… a new meaning now. A message of tranquility. It was over, for now.

“What are we going to do now?” they asked, not addressing anyone in particular, just the group in general.

“I need to master the elements,” Allura said softly. “I am capable of airbending and some waterbending, but not much else.”

“Are you going to stop the Fire Nation?” Lance asked quietly.

“I hope so,” Allura replied.

“Then I’m in,” Lance said.

“Sorry?”

“I’m in, too,” Pidge said. They smiled up at the airbender. “We started this fight, we might as well finish it.”

“And of course, I’m with you,” Coran added.

They all smiled at each other for a little bit.

This was going to be okay.

…

They set off that night for the North Pole.

…


	3. The Southern Air Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> allura sees dead people.  
> shiro doesn't want to be called "champion".
> 
> (this chapter is a long boi because it was written while I watched the episode. who knew that twenty minutes of footage could take so long to write??)

Keith scowled at the tapestry on the wall. Fire. The Fire Nation. It was like a sign telling him that he failed. The Avatar was  _ gone, _ and ran away to who-knew-where. And Keith had to go back to the continent now, with a damaged ship.

He would have had damaged pride too if he hadn’t paid for his scar with it.

How had Keith failed so completely? Why had he only taken a few soldiers? Why had nobody tried to stop the waterbender?

It was humiliating, and Keith wished that was a new feeling.

…

“This is so cool!” Lance exclaimed, grinning.

“Lance, we’ve been flying for five hours already,” Pidge groaned.

Lance shot a glare at them. “I  _ know, _ Pidge, but it’s just as cool as it was five hours ago! Plus, look! There’s an island!”

“We’ve already seen quite a few islands today, Lance,” Coran pointed out. “Perhaps you should find something to do.”

“Well, I don’t build stuff like Pidge,” Lance pointed out. “Guys, can we stop at this island?”

“That would be nice,” Allura admitted. She was leaning over Pidge’s shoulder to find out what they were doing. “Pidge, what  _ are _ you making?”

“I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way to produce electric currents,” Pidge explained. “It’ll make my weapon deadlier, and your staff, too, if you want.”

“That sounds quite fascinating!” Coran said. “I don’t mind if we make a stop, either.”

“Guess I’m fine with it, then,” Pidge said, their attention more focused on whatever they were doing with those metal bits from the Fire Nation ship. Pidge often zoned out of conversations.

“Alright then, let’s take a break!” Allura decided. She tugged at the reins attached to Voltron, who immediately began sloping downwards. Lance’s stomach lurched at the sensation of falling. This whole flying thing was cool, but the descent? Not so much.

Lance held Voltron’s fur tightly, trying not to feel like he was about to die. It didn’t help all that much.

When it was finally over, Lance gladly tumbled down Voltron’s back. He looked around the island. It probably wouldn’t be very remarkable to other people, but Lance had never seen so much  _ green. _

“Pidge, look! So many plants!” Lance yelled.

Pidge was already on it, a soft smile on their face. “I kind of forgot what plants were like.”

Allura and Coran watched them with curious looks in their eyes.

“I assume you don’t leave the South Pole often?” Coran guessed.

“Nope,” Lance said, suddenly turning bitter. A brief memory of running for a boat flashed in his mind before he pushed it away. “I’ve never left home before.”

“I was born in the Earth Kingdom,” Pidge offered.

Allura nodded. “Your stories must be quite interesting. Perhaps we can share some stories as a bonding exercise when we continue flying.”

“Sure,” Lance said, although he was quietly dreading the conversational topic of his family. He switched the focus of the conversation instead. “Hey, can we get some breakfast? I’m starving!”

“Why don’t we search for something edible while Pidge and Allura set up a camp of sorts?” Coran suggested.

Lance nodded and walked into the forest with Coran, his stomach already grumbling.

…

“I’m scared to discover what happened to my people,” Allura murmured with a sigh. “From what you’ve told me, there’s no chance that they could still be alive, but… I can’t help but hope.”

“I know how that feels,” Pidge said unexpectedly. Allura lifted her head to stare at them in confusion. “The reason I grew up in the Southern Water Tribe is that when I was younger, maybe nine or ten, my brother and father went missing. My mother was desperate. I stole a ship and tried to sail around the world, try and find them, but I was shipwrecked on the South Pole. Lance saved me, and I’ll always be thankful.”

Allura nodded. “I’m sorry about your father and brother. I hope we can find them.”

Pidge closed their eyes for a second before registering what Allura said. “We?”

“Yes,” Allura said with a smile. “We can find them- if you want the help, that is.”

Pidge looked up at Allura for a moment before stepping towards the airbender and wrapping their arms around her. Allura stood frozen for a second before doing the same.

This was… nice. Allura wished this moment could stay their reality forever.

…

After a lengthy rest and breakfast, they all clambered back onto Voltron’s back. The lion cracked one eye open lazily at them before standing up and stretching. Pidge studied her wings flexing curiously. She had never had a chance to study an animal like Voltron before.

Pidge pulled out the small notebook she always kept in a waterproof pocket and began sketching out Voltron’s wings. It was something nice to do while the others slept. Pidge hadn’t been able to sleep for a long time. At first, it was nightmares, but then there was always a reason for them to stay up later.

Looking at the wings of a one-of-a-kind beast was definitely a good reason in Pidge’s book.

Allura woke up first, and she was silent for a while before gasping. “I see it! The Air Temple!” She turned to Coran, who was still asleep. She shook him. Almost immediately he jumped up before promptly falling back down again.

“Flying,” Coran said, shaking his head. “No good for the old Sleeping Defender.”

“Sleeping Defender?” Pidge echoed, amused. “I want to know the story behind that one.”

“Ah, you will!” Coran promised. “First, we must wake up Lance.”

Lance, of course, was still wrapped up in his blanket, fast asleep. Living with him for six years had given Pidge a lot of knowledge about sleep. Not that they could ever fall asleep, but Lance had a crazy talent of being able to sleep anywhere. Even, it seemed, on the back of a giant winged lion.

Pidge sighed, going over to Lance’s side. They snatched the container of Lance’s bending water from his belt and dumped it out on his face. Lance lurched up, wide awake as he spluttered, trying to bend the water off his face. Pidge snickered.

“You’re a gremlin,” Lance complained.

“And we’re at the Southern Air Temple,” Pidge told him.

Lance sighed and put his blanket away.

…

“I want this done as quickly as possible,” Keith muttered to Shiro. He tried not to look back at their ship and see how pathetic it was compared to the real warships in the harbor.

“I know you hate this,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “It’s not one of my favorite things in the world either, but we need resources and repairs.”

“I don’t want to lose her trail,” Keith said, focusing on the  _ actually important _ problem instead of his own.

“You mean the Avatar?” Shiro asked nonchalantly.

Keith whirled on him. “Shiro, you can’t say that! There are tons of people who would just  _ love _ to steal my one chance away just for the fun of it. Nobody can know she’s around.”

“Know who’s around?”

He turned and glared at the source of the voice, a well-known commander who had Keith’s father’s favor- although definitely not Keith’s.

“Commander Sendak,” Keith greeted him dryly.

“It’s always an honor to have our disgraced prince and our champion in my waters,” Sendak said, with a tone of voice that meant it was very much  _ not _ an honor.

“Retired champion,” Shiro corrected quietly.

Keith looked over at Shiro. The man was practicing an impressive amount of restraint- years ago, when they had first met, Shiro had been unable to stop himself at all. Keith knew this was hard for Shiro, and seeing the man who Keith considered a brother in pain was not a pleasant experience.

“What brings you here?” Sendak asked.

“Our ship is being repaired,” Shiro answered stiffly, gesturing vaguely towards where the ship was.

“That’s quite a lot of damage,” Sendak observed.

“Yes, it was…” Keith looked over at Shiro for a brief second before knowing that Shiro wouldn’t be spinning any fascinating stories anytime soon. “You wouldn’t believe what happened. We crashed into an Earth Kingdom ship.”

“You should tell me  _ all about it _ ,” Sendak said, resting his hand on Keith’s shoulder as if they genuinely appreciated each other’s company. “Why don’t you join me for a drink, prince?”

This was the part Keith hated the most. His almost-enemies would always try to separate Keith from Shiro. Keith  _ knew _ what the Fire Nation called him.

The pretty bastard.

He scowled and turned away from Sendak’s gaze.

“ _ We _ would be honored to join you. Tea?” Shiro said, coming to his rescue, making sure to emphasize the  _ we. _ Keith, logically, knew they couldn’t afford to lose this harbor, especially since a fourth of the world was blocked off from him. Still, though… Sendak got on his nerves.

Keith let out a small burst of flames in his anger as he followed Sendak.

…

“Home,” Allura whispered as they drew closer and closer. The snow, the white and blue towers… it was everything she had been missing since she had gotten out of the ice.

She glanced back at the others. Pidge and Lance were wearing identical looks of concern. She understood it, and she didn’t want to believe that her people were gone. Allura  _ refused _ to believe they were gone without concrete evidence that they were. “Gone for ten thousand years” could mean “in hiding”, just like her.

Allura didn’t want to think about why she had left in the first place.

…

Sendak was droning on about the war.  _ Shiro _ had the privilege of wandering the room, while it was apparently  _ rude _ for Keith to do the same thing. He just had to sit, sip at his tea every once in a while, reply when he needed to, and pretend he cared.

The last time Keith had cared about a meeting related to the war was the time that he had single-handedly destroyed his own future. He had stopped caring after that.

Why was Sendak talking about this, again? It wasn’t like  _ Keith _ had any part in the war. He’d never had any impact, not as a kid, and definitely not now. Was he doing it just to be cruel to Keith, remind him of his failures? Probably. Keith had heard rumors of how harsh Sendak was.

“The Emperor will finally claim victory in this war,” Sendak said, and that was enough for Keith to say something.

“If my father believes that he won’t face any resistance, he’s a fool,” Keith said quietly. His voice was bitter. Why was Sendak  _ talking _ to him? He wanted to  _ leave _ . But Shiro, being the more prince-like out of the two, just  _ accepted _ the invitation, fully knowing how terrible Sendak was.

“Four years at sea have done little to domesticate you,” Sendak observed dryly, sliding into the seat next to Keith. “So, how  _ is _ your search for the Avatar going?”

There was a loud crash, and Keith turned his head to see Shiro next to a pile of weapons. He let out a breath, unsure of whether Shiro meant to do that or not.

“Apologies,” Shiro said, backing away and looking at the map Sendak had been pointing at earlier. Keith bit his lip as he saw Shiro brush his fingers over Ba Sing Se.

“We haven’t found them yet,” Keith said. “We’re just as far along in the search as we were last time we saw you.” He was slightly impressed at how easily he had said that. Years of practice, he supposed. Not really a good thing.

“Did you really expect to?” Sendak asked, the force of his words nearly causing Keith to flinch. “The Avatar’s been dead for ten thousand years, along with the rest of the airbenders.”

Keith slid his gaze away from the commander anxiously, trying not to explode.

“Unless… you’ve found some  _ evidence _ that the Avatar may be alive?”

“No,” Keith said firmly. “There’s  _ nothing. _ ”

“Prince Keith, the Avatar may very well be the only thing that’s keeping the Fire Nation from winning this war.” Sendak rose from his seat to stand in front of Keith. “If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you’ll tell me what you know.”

“I haven’t found anything,” Keith insisted again. “It’s like you said-” he would have laughed at the almost  _ lightness _ of his voice. “- the Avatar probably died a long time ago.”

Finally, he lost the rest of his confidence and stood up. “Come on, Shiro, we’re leaving.” He walked towards the door, then froze as two guards blocked the way. Keith refused to turn around and face Sendak. He was  _ leaving. _

“Commander Sendak,” another soldier said, “we interrogated the crew and they confirmed your suspicions. The prince fought against the Avatar and her comrades, and lost.”

“Her?” Sendak said. “So we finally know something more about the Avatar. Tell me, Prince Keith, what do you think of her beauty? Is she an old hag?”

Keith resisted the urge to snort at the implications of those words. “You know very well what I think of women, Sendak.”

Yeah, Keith was gay. Nobody really cared. If it had been Lotor, it would have been all over the news. But Keith’s reveal was… quiet. And it brought in all the wrong people. For example, present company.

“So,  _ Prince Keith… _ how exactly was your ship damaged?”

_ Come on, Shiro, do something! _

…

Coran drew in a deep breath. Familiar cool air hit his tongue. It was oddly relaxing. After so long, he had wondered if, perhaps, the Fire Nation had polluted the fresh, near-sacred air of the Southern Air Temple. It had always brought him joy to return home after a long journey, and to breath in the ancient air.

He had a feeling it had a similar effect on Allura. Her walk was loose and free in a way she hadn’t been since the two of them and Voltron had woken up. It was nice to see Allura letting go of some of her pain. Allura had become much more stressed once she learned that she was the Avatar.

“I can’t believe we’re lucky enough to be the first outsiders visiting an airbender temple in over ten thousand years,” Pidge ranted, their eyes bright. How could they be so… carefree, knowing what might lay ahead of them?

“You said the Fire Nation attacked here, correct?” Allura checked. At Pidge and Lance’s nods, she continued. “Then why are there no signs of a fight?”

“I have no idea,” Lance said honestly.

Pidge just shrugged.

Coran had been wondering that to himself a little bit as well. Was it too optimistic to believe that there was a chance his people were still alive?

A thought struck him suddenly. Even if there were still airbenders alive, he wouldn’t know  _ any _ of them. The people that he had known wouldn’t suddenly appear.

“I can’t believe how much things have changed,” Coran said quietly to himself. Lance gave him a sympathetic look.

…

Allura was still leading the hike up to the actual building when a flash of something red caught her eye. She broke away from the path to go and investigate. She brushed away the leaves to reveal…

A Fire Nation soldier’s helmet.

She felt sick to her stomach. Allura staggered away, her head beginning to pound. It was  _ real _ . The Fire Nation had attacked. The airbenders were  _ gone. _ She remembered all of the people she used to know, all of their sayings and words of wisdom. Allura remembered all of it.

“Allura?” Pidge. It was Pidge. Real, living Pidge. It was okay.

One line said by one of the monks stuck out in Allura’s mind.

“I’m fine,” Allura told them. “I’ll be okay. There’s someone I need to meet.”

They continued walking, through the courtyard, and into one of the distant towers. Allura stared up at the familiar door, remembering all of the times she’d stood there as a child, wondering what was behind.

“Who do you need to ‘meet’?” Lance asked her, genuinely confused. “There’s no way someone is still alive in there.”

“I survived ten thousand years,” Allura pointed out. “Not even Coran and I know what lays behind this door. Only that when I was ready, there was someone I should meet inside.”

Lance raised one eyebrow skeptically, but said nothing.

“How does this work?” Pidge asked, staring at the complicated lock on the door in awe.

Allura centered herself, breathing in deeply before releasing a gust of wind into the two sides of the lock. The shell-like designs turned and aligned the poles, letting out a flute-like noise. The final shell-like design and pole turned, and the door swung open with a creak.

She stepped forward into the darkness. The others followed her anxiously.

…

Keith was being  _ incredibly nice _ to Sendak. He really didn’t enjoy the feeling that he was tied to the chair, despite being free of any bindings.

“So a ten thousand year old woman bested you and your soldiers…” Sendak was pacing back and forth in front of him. He suddenly stopped with his back to Keith, arms folding neatly at his back. “You’re even more pathetic than I thought.”

“I underestimated them  _ once, _ and that’s a mistake I will never make again,” Keith snapped. 

“No, it will not,” Sendak agreed. “Because you won’t get the chance to make that mistake.”

Keith’s eyes widened as he realized what Sendak meant.  _ No, _ he needed the Avatar! He would always be banished from his homeland if Sendak stole the Avatar from him. Keith couldn’t… he couldn’t do that anymore. It had been  _ four years _ since he’d seen home. Four years too long. Sendak would  _ not _ take one of the few things Keith had left. Hope. Hope that it would someday be over.

“I have been hunting the Avatar for nearly a quarter of my life, Commander Sendak!” Keith hissed. “And I-”

“And you failed!” Sendak said, his voice cutting off Keith’s. He whirled around with an arc of fire from his hand and approached Keith, looming over him. “Capturing the Avatar is too important to be left in the hands of an impudent whelp!”

Keith gritted his teeth, but finally lost the battle of self-restraint. He leaped up from the chair, trying to lunge for Sendak, but the guards grabbed his arms and held him back.

“Keep them here,” Sendak ordered.

Keith was reminded of Shiro’s presence in the room. He turned to Shiro, whose eyes were wide and almost frightened. Keith  _ hated _ seeing Shiro like that. He deserved better than this. Keith took a deep breath and let the guards toss him back into the chair.

“Shiro, are you okay?” he asked, trying to keep his voice soft.

Shiro nodded, relaxing his grip on the cup of tea in his hand. “More tea, please?”

…

Allura stared at the sight in front of her.

Statues. Countless statues, all around the room, arranged in a design similar to that of a target. Circles upon circles of statues. They lined the walls of the room, covered the entire floor…

So many statues.

It felt… strangely familiar and comforting, to be there, in that room. She wasn’t sure what it was about the room and the statues, but it was… nice. Allura drew in a deep breath, trying to focus.

Allura led the way through the statues, walking aimlessly. She glanced around at the statues. Their faces gave her a sense of  déjà vu, like she should have recognized them. So many different people. Fire Nation. Air Nomad. Water Tribe. Earth Kingdom. And even people outside of any specific government.

“Who are all these people?” Pidge asked, studying each statue they passed carefully.

“I’m… not sure,” Allura admitted, stopping and staring at a statue of a woman dressed in ancient Earth Kingdom fashion. Pidge stopped beside her. “But… it feels like I know them in some way.”

“I think they’re lined up in a pattern,” Pidge said. “Look, this one’s a firebender. And next is an airbender, then a waterbender, then back to an earthbender.”

“Isn’t that the Avatar cycle?” Lance asked. “Fire, Air, Water, Earth?”

Coran nodded. “I believe these are the past Avatars.”

Allura stared at the statue in front of her in shock. “All of these people are who I was in a past life.” She shook her head, a smile forming on her face despite what she had seen outside earlier. “That’s… incredible.”

“There’s so many!” Lance exclaimed. “That’s crazy!”

Allura began following the path of Avatar statues around and around, until it suddenly ended. The last statue was of a familiar firebender.

“Avatar Alfor,” she breathed, her hand reaching out to touch the stone, but hovering a little bit away. Allura looked to the empty space beside his statue. “And… I would have gone there.”

“This is crazy,” Lance muttered to himself.

“You believe in bending, but not in Avatar stuff?” Pidge asked quietly with a sigh.

“It’s different,” Lance objected, but fell silent.

Allura continued staring into the eyes of Avatar Alfor. They seemed to shine slightly. She tore her gaze away.

“Look!” Lance hissed, ducking behind a statue. “A firebender!”

Allura stared at the long shadow on the floor as it approached. She couldn’t see outside, but the shadow did seem vaguely human-shaped. She wasn’t quite sure who else would be up here, but it was best not to take any chances.

Pidge and Allura hid behind the Avatar Alfor statue, while Coran darted behind a statue of a waterbender. Footsteps grew louder and louder, and the shadow grew longer, until…

Allura poked her head out and spotted four mice, stacked up on each other’s shoulders. Air Nomad mice. They weren’t extinct? She gasped and left her hiding place. “They’re mice!”

“Mice?” Pidge echoed dubiously, but crept out of hiding anyway. They watched the mice curiously as Allura stepped towards the four creatures.

“Coran! We’re not the last Air Nomads left, after all!” She smiled and reached down towards the mice, who cheerfully squeaked at her. They ran up her arm, onto her shoulders. Allura could already feel the mental connection every airbender had with the mice flood her mind.

“Incredible!” Coran exclaimed. “It’s amazing that they were able to last alone for so long!” He winced slightly at his words, and Allura did the same, but kept her focus on the mice.

They told her their names. The largest was named Platt, the smallest was named Chulatt, the one with blue fur was Plachu and the pink one was named Chuchule.

“Aw man, I really thought  _ mice _ were a firebender?” Lance complained.

“I have a feeling we’re going to stay together for a while,” Allura told the mice on her shoulders with a gentle smile.

…

Keith looked up as Sendak re-entered the room. He had calmed down slightly, but not enough for him to be relaxed by any definition.

“My search party is prepared. Once I’m out to sea, you will be free to take your ship and leave,” Sendak announced.

“Why? Worried I’ll stop you from capturing the Avatar?” Keith asked snarkily.

Sendak let out a laugh. “You? Stop me? Impossible.”

Keith stood up angrily. “Don’t underestimate me, Sendak! I  _ will _ capture the Avatar before you!”

Shiro stood up as well and silently placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith wasn’t sure if it was meant to be restraining or supportive.

“You can’t compete with me,  _ Keith. _ ” He resisted the urge to lunge at Sendak for the use of his name. “I have hundreds of ships at my command, and you are nothing. You are a banished prince, no home, no allies. Your own  _ father _ doesn’t want you.”

Those words cut deep. Really deep. Keith flinched. “You’re wrong! Once  _ I _ capture the Avatar and deliver her to my father, I will be free to return home!”

Sendak snarled. “If your father truly wanted you home, you would have returned by now. But you are a disgrace and a failure to the Fire Nation.”

Keith’s nails dug deep into his palm. “That’s not true!”

“You have the scar to prove it.”

Keith let out a cry and lunged for Sendak, who only stood still with an almost amused expression. What gave him the right to do this to Keith? “Maybe you’d like one to match.”

“Is that a challenge?” Sendak asked mockingly.

“Agni Kai. Sunset,” Keith said bluntly, staring up into Sendak’s eyes.

“Very well,” Sendak said. “It’s a shame Emperor Zarkon won’t be there to watch me humiliate you. The Champion will suffice.”

This time, Shiro was the one who flinched.

Sendak stalked out of the room, leaving Keith and Shiro alone.

“Keith, have you forgotten what happened last time you fought an Agni Kai?” Shiro asked worriedly.

“How could I forget that?” Keith demanded. He reached up and brushed his fingers lightly over his scar. The skin was rough compared to the rest of him. It spoke of his failures. “I will  _ never _ forget.”

…

The mice led Allura through the Air Temple to a cave that had once been used for storing food. She pushed away the curtain and her eyes widened. Bodies littered the ground in front of her.

“Firebenders,” she whispered. It was so, so real. But firebenders were not the only ones among the dead. Airbenders were there. Airbenders she couldn’t quite recognize after ten thousand years, but she could identify some by their jewelry.

People she had known.

And they were dead.

Dead, dead, dead.

Allura fell to the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks. Everything was  _ gone. _ It was  _ over. _

In the background, she heard Lance entering the cave. “Allura? You-” He stopped, and Allura knew he saw the bodies. “I am so, so sorry.”

Lance rested her hand on his shoulder, but Allura was too deep in her grief to care.

Her markings began glowing.

…

Pidge and Coran were the only ones left in the room of statues. Pidge continued wandering through, trying to absorb all the details. They stopped again in front of Avatar Alfor. How could he have vanished? Did he die? He must have, or Allura wouldn’t have existed. But how?

Then the eyes of the statue began glowing a light blue color. All around the room, the eyes of every Avatar lit up. Countless lights surrounded them.

“Coran, what’s going on?” Pidge asked, panicking slightly. “Is something going wrong?”

“No,” Coran said. “Allura’s gone into the Avatar State.”

“Avatar State?” Pidge echoed. “What’s that?”

“It’s when the Avatar is most connected with the elements,” Coran explained, concern tinging his voice. “It only happens during moments of great focus or unbalance. Allura must be feeling extreme emotion.”

“We have to go find her!” Pidge yelped, backing away from the statue. They tugged Coran away by the arm and ran out into the temple, searching for Allura.

…

An earthbender man, who had not had a particularly great day, was meditating in front of the sacred mosaic that depicted many great Avatars of the past.

Then, the eyes- he had been told they were connected to the Avatar- began glowing.

What did that mean?

…

At the North Pole, two waterbenders watched as the flame connected to the Avatar hundreds of thousands of years ago sprung to life for the first time in ten thousand years.

Could the Avatar be alive?

…

In a temple, hidden atop a volcano, deep in Fire Nation territory, a Druid watched as proof the Avatar was not as dead as they had thought stared them in the face.

“Send word to the Emperor!” They ordered, turning to a lesser-ranked Druid standing behind them. “The Avatar has returned.”

…

Lance watched, confused and scared on  _ so many levels _ . He backed away as harsh winds began creating a sphere around Allura, practically shielding her from the world. He stared, frozen, as Allura began rising, and the cave exploded. Lance covered his eyes and ran back outside, where Allura hovered high in the air.

Pidge and Coran finally appeared, out of breath but definitely concerned.

“What happened?” Pidge gasped.

“She saw the dead bodies,” Lance explained quickly. “Then all of a sudden she got like this! Coran, what do we do?”

“We have to calm her down!” Coran said, shouting to be heard over the wind. “She has to feel safe enough to leave the Avatar State.”

“Well, how do we calm her down?” Pidge demanded. “Just… ask her nicely?”

“We must convince her that she is okay,” Coran said. “I’ve never dealt with this before!”

“I’m going to try,” Lance said, gritting his teeth. Even stepping forward was difficult- the wind surrounding Allura was doing its best to push him away. Even so, he stepped forward, carefully. “Allura!”

Allura turned to him, her eyes glowing eerily. Lance wanted to shiver, but he couldn’t. He had to get Allura to calm down.

…

Keith took a deep breath. The last time he fought an Agni Kai… well, there was a reason he was off hunting the Avatar. It felt strange, to be wearing these clothes again. The light armor that was a rare sighting in the Fire Nation outside of these duels. He redid the ribbon in his hair anxiously.

“Remember your training,” Shiro told him gently. “You can do this, Keith. Patience yields focus.”

Keith nodded and got in position, kneeling away from the center of the dueling ground. The red of the setting sun cast a warm glow on his skin. The strands of hair still hanging in his face had little streaks of red. It felt natural. This was going to be okay.

“I won’t let him win, Shiro. Not after that.”

Shiro shook Keith’s ponytail lightly. “You don’t need to fight for me, Keith.”

“I’m fighting for you  _ and _ for me. Sendak doesn’t deserve mercy.”

Shiro sighed. “Just… try not to get too hurt, okay? We could have avoided all of this, but… I guess this is probably something you need to do, after four years.”

Keith scowled. “I don’t  _ need to, _ Shiro, I’m fine.”

“Just, the stuff he was saying earlier…”

“I’m fine. Really.”

And then Shiro had to step away, while Keith stood and turned. He stared at Sendak from across the arena. The man had a grim, confident expression. Keith refused to let  _ him _ win.

The gong rang out, and Keith began the fight. He tossed a burst of flame as he ran up to Sendak. The commander dodged easily, and ducked away when Keith tried for a kick. Keith kept going for bursts of flame, but Sendak kept moving.

Finally, Sendak attacked, and Keith sprinted to keep away from the spray of fire.

“Basics, Keith!” Shiro called, his voice giving away how nervous he was.

Sendak attacks again, and Keith divides the fire, keeping it away from himself. This happens again and again. Keith can feel his arms shaking. Sendak’s final attack is the strongest, and Keith falls to the ground, panting.

The commander approached him, and he narrows his gaze on Keith’s face before aiming for Keith’s other cheek. Keith realized what he was going to do and, with sheer  _ determination _ to not be scarred again in an Agni Kai, rolled away, blocking what he could of the fire. The heat hit his skin, but not enough to burn.

Keith tripped Sendak and forced him to back away, sending flame after flame. Sendak finally fell to the ground, and Keith stood over him, ready to attack again if he needed to.

“Do it,” Sendak snarled at him.

Keith lets out a last attack, but it misses Sendak’s face. He wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not.

“That’s it?” Sendak demanded, and when Keith showed no sign of attacking again, he continued. “Your father raised a coward.”

“I haven’t seen my father in four years,” Keith said. “Next time we meet, I won’t hold back.”

He walked away, feeling relief flood him at the fact that it was  _ over. _ He  _ won. _ He did it! Keith finally won an Agni Kai! He wasn’t as weak as they said, he was stronger than everyone thought-

“I’m proud of you, Keith,” Shiro said, smiling warmly at him. Somehow, that felt better than winning. Shiro didn’t say those words often enough.

A burst of flame went past Keith and Shiro’s heads, and he whirled around, prepared to battle Sendak once more. Shiro held him back, fixing Sendak with a fierce glare.

“So this is how you act when you’re defeated? Commander Sendak?” Shiro shook his head. “Even after four years of being away from the Fire Nation, Prince Keith is more honorable in a fight than you.”

Sendak gave a glare, but backed away and turned toward his allies.

Keith and Shiro smiled slightly at each other. How long had it been since Keith smiled? They walked away, leaving Sendak behind.

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith said softly.

“You mean the world to me, Keith,” Shiro said. “I’m glad you could defeat him- and yourself.”

“Myself?” Keith echoed, before realizing what Shiro meant. “No, Shiro- seriously, I’m fine. I’m doing better now than I have in four years.”

Shiro nodded slightly. “I believe that.”

They walked to the dock in silence. Keith relaxed and let himself be  _ calm. _

…

Pidge watched anxiously as Lance approached Allura.

“Allura!” Lance called. “Listen! You… you’ve been through a lot in the past few days, I know! And seeing these people who you used to call friends must be overwhelming. But… we need you!”

Pidge glanced at Coran before stepping closer to Allura, standing at Lance’s side, despite the winds that threatened to blow them away.

“Allura, I know we don’t know you all that well,” Pidge began, “but from what I do know of you, you’re an amazing person! You don’t deserve this, and the people that you care for don’t deserve this, either. But… there are still people who care about you! Me, Lance, Coran, even Voltron and the mice! We need you, Allura!”

Was it their imagination, or were the winds slowing down? Pidge gritted their teeth and stepped closer. “Come on, Allura! You’re okay! Please come back!”

The winds definitely slowed, but Allura’s eyes and markings still glowed. Pidge glanced back to Coran, who nodded and spoke up.

“Allura, we’ve been through a lot together! I knew these people just as well as you did, and I’m just as devastated as you are!” Coran shouted. “But the world needs you! You have to be strong!”

Finally, Allura lowered to the ground, and the winds dispersed. The glowing vanished, and Allura slumped down on the ground with exhaustion. Pidge rushed over to her, worried.

“I’m sorry,” Allura murmured as Pidge reached her.

“It’s okay,” they said. “We’re a team now, so we have to stay together. Okay?”

Allura nodded. Lance and Coran helped carry her back to Voltron. The mice followed them, squeaking worriedly.

“It’s going to be okay,” Pidge murmured, looking out at the setting sun.

…

When Allura finally regained consciousness, they set off. Everyone turned to watch the Southern Air Temple disappear from view.

“How are the past Avatars supposed to help me?” Allura asked quietly. “I can’t speak to them.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Coran said gently.

As the others drifted off to sleep or relax, Allura turned to the mice sitting in front of her, as well as Voltron.

“We’re all that’s left,” she murmured. “Platt, Plachu, Chulatt, Chuchule, Voltron, Coran, and… me. The last airbender.”

As the sun vanished below the horizon, Allura watched as the clouds covered the Southern Air Temple. It was over. She had a new life now.

Allura let herself smile gently.

...


	4. The Warriors of Baku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some soft pallura.

Keith tried to relax, focusing on his breathing. Shiro had said, not so long ago, that firebending came from the breath. So this shouldn’t be difficult, should it?

He closed his eyes, aware of the candles in front of him, and took a deep breath, then let it out, letting the flames grow stronger. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Keith’s mind cleared. He let go of the Avatar, of his father, of the war. Everything was… peaceful.

He was okay. More okay than he had ever been. Keith was  _ calm, _ and he needed that calm.

His serenity cracked when the door opened. Keith didn’t bother looking to see who it was, but he opened his eyes, staring down at the flickering flames and the shadows they cast. “Unless you have news on the Avatar, there’s no reason for you to be here.”

“Well.” It was Shiro. Was he mad? Did Keith just insult him? Shiro would get fed up eventually, wouldn’t he?  _ Shiro _ was free to go back home to the Fire Nation, where the people loved him, or even Ba Sing Se, from where he had been captured- were the flames getting bigger? Keith wasn’t worried about anything. He was totally okay. Not concerned at all about what had happened with Sendak. “It is  _ about _ the Avatar, but I highly doubt you’ll like it.”

“You’re the one who always tells me to keep a level head,” Keith said mildly, trying to stay focused on the flames.  _ Patience yields focus. _

“Of course,” Shiro muttered. “Alright. Well… we have no idea where she’s gone.”

The tiny flames burning on the candles shot high in the air, creating a wall of flames. Keith tried to regulate his breathing, but it didn’t work. Nothing ever worked. Why was he such an impulsive, idiotic wreck? No wonder his father didn’t want him back-

“You should really open a window or something in here,” Shiro said. “Listen, Keith. There have been multiple sightings, but none of them are trusted sources, and they’re scattered all over the globe.”

“Okay,” Keith mumbled to himself. “Okay. That’s fine.” Then, louder, not exactly to Shiro, “Clearly ten thousand years have given her a good opportunity to learn how to strategize and hide.”

Shiro hummed his agreement. “Go back to your breathing exercises,” he said. “I’ll let you know if we find something more concrete.”

Keith nodded, closing his eyes once more. They  _ would _ find the Avatar.

…

“Do we have  _ any _ idea where we’re going?” Pidge asked dryly.

“Nope!” Coran answered cheerily. “Unless you consider flying north, like a pack of yelmores!”

“Yelmores?” Lance echoed, glancing at Pidge for an answer, but they only shrugged at him.

“There’s another island up ahead,” Allura offered. “We can stop there for some much-needed rest.”

Voltron rumbled her agreement, nearly shaking everyone off.

“At this rate, we won’t get to the North Pole until spring,” Pidge pointed out, setting down their notebook. “Don’t you think our priority should be to fly?”

“Yes, but it would be beneficial to see what the modern world is like,” Allura said. “Besides, the beach looks lovely.”

Pidge couldn’t argue with that.

Voltron landed on the beach, clouds of soft sand billowing up onto her paws. Everyone scrambled off.

“Look!” Coran said, pointing to a large shape in the water, which jumped up. It was a giant fish. “A giant merfish!”

“Merfish? But it’s just a fish, not a mermaid,” Lance pointed out.

“Oh, but according to legend, all of the merfish in this area were once mermaids!”

“Of course they were,” Pidge grumbled.

“I always wanted to ride one,” Allura said with a wistful smile. It turned into a grin, and she jumped into the water, robes and all. Pidge had a feeling that wouldn’t be fun to let those dry out for hours.

Not to be outdone, of course, because he’s  _ Lance, _ their adopted brother pulled off his shirt and followed Allura into the water. Pidge wasn’t quite sure what the shirt would do for him, but whatever. He was a waterbender, he could handle it.

Pidge and Coran stood at the shore, watching as Allura and Lance held onto the fins of the merfish. Pidge smiled slightly; seeing Lance and Allura’s smiles even made  _ them _ happy.

A bigger creature suddenly appeared behind Lance and Allura.

“There’s something in the water!” Pidge shouted to the pair.

“Get out of there!” Coran yelled.

Allura and Lance didn’t look like they’d heard. If only Pidge or Coran were benders! But their two benders were  _ out there, _ in the ocean.

At least they were the two stuck out there instead of Pidge and Coran.

Lance and Allura were suddenly flung from their merfish and landed in the water. The back of the giant beast rose out of the water- it was green at the top, with orange everywhere else as far as Pidge could tell. It was  _ huge _ and serpentine.

The two benders finally screamed and Lance pushed himself towards shore with a wave, while Allura propelled herself back to Pidge and Coran with blasts of air. When they reached Pidge and Coran, the creature silently sank back into the water.

“What is that thing?” Lance gasped.

“I don’t know,” Allura said. “It must have been created sometime over the past ten thousand years.”

“I think it’s about time to leave,” Coran suggested.

Suddenly, three warriors dropped down from the trees, surrounding the group. Lance pulled his bending water from his pouch; Allura whipped out her staff; Pidge readied her weapon; Coran held up his fists.

Or at least, they would have, had they had more time. But they were quickly tied up and thrown on the ground, even the mice.

“Or we could stay a while,” Lance squeaked.

…

“You four have some explaining to do,” a voice said. The voice was nice and smooth and distinctly feminine- Lance wasn’t sure how he felt about this. Pretty girl? Or  _ pretty evil _ girl?

“And if you don’t answer our questions, you’ll be thrown back in the water with the Baku Serpent,” another person said. He was  _ fairly sure _ they weren’t a pretty girl, at least.

“Show yourselves!” Lance exclaimed. Thankfully, his blindfold was taken off, revealing a beautiful woman and a group of warriors with strange fish-like helmets that covered their faces.

“Who are you?” Pidge asked.

“It is not your turn to answer questions,” the second voice said. That person was the person in front, presumably the leader of the warriors, with a blue helmet. “ _ You _ tell us, who are you and what is your purpose for being on Baku Island?”

“Baku Island?” Allura echoed. “This is the home of Avatar Trigel!”

The warrior backed away. “Avatar Trigel was our founder, yes. But  _ answer our questions _ .”

“My apologies,” Allura said. “I didn’t realize that you would take offense to our visit. We were just looking for a place to relax before continuing on our journey.”

The warrior squinted slightly at Allura before turning to the woman.

“How do we know you’re not Fire Nation soldiers?” the woman asked. “Baku has stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way.”

Allura glanced around at everybody- Lance only shrugged, and Coran and Pidge did the same. None of them knew what to say. Besides, Allura was the one who seemed to know her diplomatic stuff.

“I know Avatar Trigel,” Allura said.

“How could you possibly know Avatar Trigel? She died nearly a century before Avatar Alfor.”

“I am the Avatar,” Allura said. Her voice sounded confident, but Lance heard the waver.

“That’s impossible!” the warrior exclaimed. “The last Avatar disappeared thousands of years ago and there hasn’t been a new one since.”

“That’s her!” Coran said.

“Throw the imposter to the Baku Serpent,” the woman ordered before turning away. The warriors approached the team.

“Do some airbending or something,” Pidge said urgently.

“Come on, Allura!” Lance encouraged.

Allura frowned at them before breaking out of her bonds and flying up into the air, so that the fact she had used her airbending was unmistakable.

“It’s true!” the woman gasped. She and the warriors were all staring at Allura in awe. They had backed away. “You  _ are  _ the Avatar.”

The people behind the woman and the warriors began cheering.

…

“Did you hear?” a little girl who had been in that crowd asked a fisherman. “The Avatar is on Baku!”

The fisherman dropped his basket of fish.

…

“Did you know the Avatar’s on Baku?” the fisherman asked the shopkeeper he sold the fish to.

…

“Have you heard the Avatar’s on Baku?” the shopkeeper asked his customer, who was purchasing the fish.

…

The customer, a servant on board Prince Keith’s ship, set the fish down onto the table where Keith and Shiro sat. Keith had been agitated the past few days, unable to find any definite information on the Avatar’s whereabouts.

“The Avatar is on Baku Island,” the servant told them.

“The Avatar is on Baku Island?” Keith asked as he stood, his face lighting up. “Ready the Krelshi. She’s not defeating me this time.” He stalked away.

“Are you going to finish eating, at least?” Shiro called after him.

“I’ll save it for later!” Keith exclaimed, walking back and taking the plate of fish away.

Shiro sighed. Keith’s self-destructive tendencies would come back to bite him someday.

…

Allura stared down at the food arranged on the table in front of her.

“These people sure know how to treat an Avatar!” Lance exclaimed, immediately cramming a pastry in his mouth.

“You’ll get sick if you eat too much,” Pidge said, carefully grabbing a vaguely circle-shaped piece of bread. “We’ve been living off fruit for a week. Don’t want to overwhelm your weak stomach.”

“Air Nomads actually have quite strong stomachs!” Coran exclaimed. “Comes from a healthy diet.”

“I don’t think your biology can change from that, but okay.” Pidge took a huge bite of some sort of fruit.

“I should whip up an Avatar meal someday,” Coran said. “It’s good for you, and quite delicious!”

Allura made a face at Pidge from behind Coran’s back, and they both laughed.

“I’m going to go figure out how you can fight with helmets like that,” Lance said, standing up. “They beat us way too easily.”

“We’ll probably be here, or out in the market for supplies,” Allura told him.

“Don’t worry, we  _ probably _ won’t leave you here,” Pidge said with a grin.

…

Allura spent the day running from her fans. There were  _ so many _ .

…

Pidge spent the day with Coran, buying new food and brushing Voltron.

…

Lance poked his head into the training room, where the warriors were practicing. They  _ still _ had their stupid helmets on. How could they see? How could they move so swiftly and easily with that much  _ weight _ on their heads? There was a reason that Lance didn’t usually wear a helmet into battle.

“Hey,” Lance said, stepping into the training room. “Uh… I’m just looking for somewhere to work out?”

“Well, you’re in the right place,” the warrior who had interrogated him said. “I’m Plaxum.”

Lance shrugged and began stretching in the corner.

“Sorry about yesterday. I didn’t know you were friends with the Avatar,” Plaxum told him.

“It’s alright. I would have beaten you if it was a fair fight,” Lance said, a grin growing on his face. “You know, I’m the best fighter in the entire Southern Water Tribe?”

“In your whole tribe?” Plaxum echoed. He couldn’t tell if they was mocking him or not. “Maybe you’d be kind enough to give us a demonstration?”

“I… uh…” Lance stammered, then got his face under control. “Sure.” He wasn’t bluffing  _ that much. _ He could take on Plaxum!

“Great,” Plaxum said. “No bending. You’re a waterbender, right?”

“Yeah, but I can fight without it,” Lance said, his confidence returning.

He and Plaxum faced each other. Lance went for a punch straight off the bat. Plaxum- he still wasn’t sure if Plaxum was a girl or not, they kind of seemed like a girl, but he didn’t want to assume- blocked him easily.

“Ow,” Lance muttered. “Okay, I was going easy on you. Time to get serious, right?” He charged towards Plaxum. Plaxum easily tossed him back.

That pattern continued on for a long time. Lance did  _ not _ win a single match.

…

“Pidge,  _ please _ save me,” Allura begged.

Pidge gave an amused snort, casually picking up some nuts that they knew Lance  _ hated. _ “Sorry, Allura. I can’t. Too busy making my own fanclub.”

“I would give you mine if I could,” Allura said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, my fans will not leave me alone.”

Some shrieks tore through the air, and Allura bolted. Pidge grinned after her.

…

Lance sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of the training room.

“Do you give up?” Plaxum asked him.

Lance took a deep breath before standing up. “Do you think… you could teach me? It doesn’t have to be a lot, I just want to get better at this whole… fighting thing.” Pidge had been fighting longer than Lance had known them. Allura was the  _ Avatar. _ Coran kept them all organized, even if he couldn’t fight all that well. Lance had his waterbending, but… it was nice to know that he had a backup.

Plaxum stared at him for a moment of silence before nodding. “Alright. But you must follow our traditions.

Twenty minutes later, Lance found himself wearing one of those stupid fish helmets. It even kind of  _ smelled _ fishy. Ha. Fishy.

“Do I really need to wear this… thing?” Lance asked.

“Yes. It represents the spirit of our island. We are a fishing community, but we are also warriors.”

“The spirit of the island…” Lance murmured to himself.

“Hey, Lance. Nice hat!” Pidge yelled from outside.

Lance let out a groan.

…

“Hey Allura, do you want to go down to the beach for a little bit?” Pidge asked.

It was getting late. Both Pidge and Allura had retreated into their room. Coran was passed out on a cot. Lance was still with the Baku Warriors. Pidge was  _ bored. _ They hadn’t done anything all day.

“Why not?” Allura smiled lightly and stood up. Pidge did the same. They walked side by side down to the beach.

“I’ve never felt sand like this before,” Allura admitted, picking some up and letting it slip through her fingers. “It’s strange, how much of the world I’ve never seen. When I was younger, I always dreamed of traveling to every continent, learn everything about each civilization.” She grew quiet. “I suppose I can never do that, after what the Fire Nation’s done.”

“Well, if you’re mastering the four elements, you’ll have to travel everywhere, right? Find an earthbending teacher in the Earth Kingdom. A waterbending teacher at the North Pole. And… eventually to the Fire Nation, to learn firebending and stop Zarkon.” Pidge sighed. “How did I go from fishing to stopping an empire?”

Allura laughed slightly. “It’s amazing, how much can change in a second.” 

Pidge got the feeling Allura meant something more than Pidge and Lance’s failed fishing trip. They took a deep breath, letting their lungs fill with salty air. Everything was so much  _ warmer _ here. It reminded them of home.

_ Home. _

Some place in the Earth Kingdom Pidge barely remembered. You would think, at ten years old, that they would know their own address, but… that didn’t happen.

“Sometimes I wonder how my mother is doing,” Pidge admitted.

“You and Lance rarely speak of your families,” Allura observed. “I heard your story, and I think Lance would rather tell us of his own accord.”

“Yeah,” Pidge muttered. “He went through some awful stuff.”

They sat there for a little bit until something appeared on the horizon, and it approached quickly. A Fire Nation ship.

“Do you think it’s the same one?” Pidge asked, then slapped themself in the face. “Whatever, we have to warn everyone!”

“Let’s go,” Allura said.

They ran down the trail, back to the village.

“The Fire Nation is coming!” Allura shouted. “You must take cover!”

…

The last two times the ramp had come down were terrible experiences. Keith sighed, patting the side of the Krelshi- a large animal that some said descended from dragons- gently.

“I want the Avatar alive,” he said.

They set off, ready for a fight.

Keith was ready for this to end. He did  _ not _ want to chase the Avatar all over the globe. If she would just  _ accept _ her failure, they could all just… relax. He wasn’t quite sure what his father wanted to do with the Avatar, but Keith knew what his father was doing  _ without _ the Avatar. And Keith was really ready to go home now. It was cruel to let him get so close.

He closed his eyes for a moment and let the Krelshi guide him.

…

Lance had  _ finally _ gotten the hang of it when he heard Allura’s shout.

“We gotta go,” Lance said quickly, and attempted to pull the helmet off his head. It didn’t work. “Plaxum, how do I take this off?”

“There’s no time,” Plaxum said urgently. “Come on, let’s go find your friends.”

…

Keith looked around the seemingly abandoned town. It was impossible for the people to have just  _ vanished _ in the day it took to sail over to Baku Island. So where were they?

“Come out, Avatar!” he called. He hoped his voice sounded commanding enough that she’d actually  _ listen. _ “You can’t hide from me forever.”

There was nothing. Baku Island was like a ghost town.

“Find her,” Keith ordered the six soldiers- yes, he’d brought an extra this time. Even his own soldiers had hidden from him when it was announced that volunteers were needed. Keith supposed he understood that. After all, he’d been knocked out by that waterbender’s stupid  _ boomerang _ and held prisoner. It made sense that no one else wanted to go through that- although he doubted the Avatar and her friends would care about them.

Keith was about to nudge his own Krelshi forward when suddenly four warriors came out from their hiding places and jumped on his soldiers. A fifth warrior charged at him, and Keith shot a blast of fire, which they dodged. They jumped towards him, but the Krelshi’s tail hit them, and they fell to the ground.

Keith sent fire towards their face, but a blast of water got in the way. A waterbender. He wasn’t totally sure if this was the same waterbender or not- there was a helmet on their head, obscuring their face from view. Keith got out of the saddle and stood on the Krelshi’s back, prepared to fight the waterbender, but was interrupted.

“It’s me you want to fight, not them.”

The Avatar!

“Finally,” Keith muttered. He dodged an attack from another Baku warrior and stalked towards the Avatar. She looked determined. Keith was even more determined. She leaped closer to him. He gave a kick that would have gotten her had she not used her airbending to throw him against one of the houses.

A cloud of smoke covered his eyes, and he was trapped underneath too much debris to burn. But after how much he had burned the village, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be trapped under there for too long.

…

Allura frowned as she stared at the smoke. She  _ really, really _ hoped she hadn’t killed him. He looked younger than her. Allura looked around at the fire, then ran towards where Pidge, Coran, and the civilians were taking shelter. There weren’t any more Baku Warriors in sight, so they must have gone there, as well.

There was so much destruction. Every house was burned and charred, and firebenders still roamed free. The statue of Avatar Trigel that she, Pidge, Lance, and Coran had been tied to was on fire.

Pidge was standing outside when Allura reached the last safe place.

“I destroyed these people’s homes,” Allura murmured.

Pidge looked up at her sympathetically. “No, it isn’t, Allura. The Fire Nation destroyed this island, not you. It isn’t your fault that you’re being hunted.”

“But I’ve ruined lives by leading them here…” Allura murmured.

“Then we have to leave,” Pidge said firmly. Their gaze was soft, but it was solid. There would be no arguing.

“Let’s find Lance and Coran,” Allura decided eventually. She let out a long breath. This  _ wasn’t _ running away. She was saving these people by leading the fight away from their home.

…

Lance and Plaxum had their backs up against a wall. Fire Nation soldiers walked past them. At some point, Lance’s helmet had finally fallen off.

“I have to leave,” Lance said upon hearing Voltron’s roar.

“There’s no time for a goodbye,” Plaxum said quickly. “Go, Lance.”

“Wait,” he said. “Can I just say…” He hesitated before finishing his sentence. “Thank you, Plaxum. Really. For everything you’ve done today.”

Plaxum looked at him for a moment before taking off the helmet, revealing a beautiful, soft face. She smiled at him. “Thank  _ you _ for saving me.” She kissed him on the cheek before turning away. “Go with your friends. They need you.”

Lance turned red, a smile on his face, before running towards his friends. He quickly climbed up onto Voltron’s back, where they were waiting for him.

“Go, Voltron!” Allura called. The lion rose in response and beat her wings. Soon, they were flying.

“Back to the ship!” Lance heard the firebender-  _ Keith _ \- shout. He watched as the soldiers scrambled back to shore.

Lance watched as Baku Island grew smaller and smaller.

…

“It’s not your fault,” Pidge reminded Allura. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You did the right thing,” Coran added.

Allura looked at them for a moment before slipping off Voltron’s back and into the ocean.

“What are you doing?” she heard Pidge yell before she hit water.

The cool sensation was relaxing, and Allura let herself float for a moment before swimming down further, where she spotted the Baku Serpent. She grabbed onto the algae-like substance on its back, and tugged so that it reared up and out of the water. She then made it create a huge splash, which she amplified with her little skill in waterbending. The water doused the flames in the village. The firebenders and townspeople were likely soaked.

Allura then let go and relaxed as she landed on Voltron’s soft fur.

…

She looked out the window, watching as Avatar Allura and her friends flew away on their winged lion.

“Thank you, Avatar.”

…

“That was ridiculously dangerous, I know,” Allura said with a slight smile. “But it saved their town from burning down.

They all looked at her with wide eyes before hugging her.

Despite everything that had happened that day, there were bright smiles on all of their faces.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now get outta here, plaxum


	5. The King of Almora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they gossip about keith for no reason.  
> everyone's favorite guy shows up(if he seems a bit ooc it's because i watched like five minutes of that episode to remember how he spoke. probably didn't work that well.)

“Welcome, everyone, to the Earth Kingdom city of Almora!” Coran exclaimed, waving his arms.

The city really was beautiful, Pidge had to admit. It was built like pyramids atop a flat base. That really was fascinating- they would have to find blueprints or something of it at some point.

“I used to travel here to visit a man named Slav,” Allura mused. “He was strange, certainly, but always interesting.”

“We don’t have cities like this in the South Pole,” Pidge said. “This is amazing.”

“They have buildings here that aren’t made of snow,” Lance said, his eyes wide.

“Right then,” Coran said. “We have no idea what Almora is like in modern times, but it could be a cutthroat city! So we must wear disguises!”

Allura looked unimpressed. “Coran, we can even  _ see _ their mail system from here. I highly doubt it’s changed that much in the past ten thousand years.”

Lance looked curious to find out more about these disguises. Pidge didn’t like that look.  _ Pidge _ being curious was scary, but Lance…

There were some seals at the South Pole who were still dyed rainbow.

Pidge was more interested in the “mail system” Allura was talking about. Was that what those sliding boxes were? That was fascinating! Why had they picked the one place in the world to live that didn’t have technology as advanced as the rest?

Pidge also understood the practicality of disguises, as the firebender- Keith, Lance had said his name was, but Lance had also called Keith “the hot firebender” so Pidge wasn’t sure how much they cared about Lance’s opinion on the guy- had chased them from the South Pole to Baku Island, so they wouldn’t be all that surprised if he showed up again.

Speaking of firebenders, Lance was an idiot for not telling them about Keith’s heritage before.

_ “Uh, guys? There’s something I forgot to tell you.” _

_ “Well, spit it out.” _

_ “The firebender guy… Keith, remember?” _

_ “Yes, we just returned from battle with him.” _

_ “Well, turns out… he’s a prince?” _

_ “Surprisingly, that makes a lot of sense.” _

_ “He doesn’t remind me of Zarkon’s son that I met before I was frozen… so he must be the one that doesn’t have Zarkon’s strange magic?” _

_ “Must be.” _

_ “Lance, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” _

_ “Well… I thought maybe he’d give up after the South Pole? But that’s looking like a no, so…” _

_ “I suppose that’s useful information...” _

Yeah, Lance was an idiot. Now that they knew who the guy was, it would probably be easier to figure out how to stop him.

Hopefully.

But right now, Pidge was worried about the fabric Coran was pulling out of his bag.

…

“I look so cool, don’t I, Pidge?” Lance asked for what had to be the millionth time. “Why don’t we wear stuff like this all the time?”

“I think I’d look cool without these  _ glasses, _ ” Pidge muttered. Lance had a feeling they liked the outfit anyway. They were just mad that they had to put their own, boring, regular glasses away. Also, Pidge didn’t need glasses? Why did they wear them? That was a story for another time. “Like, who wears orange glasses, like  _ this?” _

“They were quite fashionable back in the day,” Coran said. “I had a pair just like that! Pulled in all the people!”

Allura laughed, and Lance got the idea that Coran’s words weren’t totally true.

As they got closer to the gates, they heard yelling from the guards. Lance got the feeling that maybe they’d need their disguises after all.

“‘Sustenance’  again? You always come around here to advertise the Fire Nation!”

One of the guards used earthbending and sent a cart flying into the air and off the edge, falling into the canyon.

“My sustenance!” a man cried. He was kind of scary for a civilian, Lance thought. Big. Mean-looking.

His cart had also said “Vrepit Sal’s”, as in how the Fire Nation swore allegiance, so…

Lance didn’t feel that bad.

“Don’t worry so much,” Coran said. “These people are the friendliest you’ll ever meet in the world!”

Lance, Allura, and Pidge shared a look that dissolved into nervous laughter. If these were the friendliest people the world had to offer, Lance would like to go to space, thanks.

An earthbender guard formed a rock and held it above Coran’s head. Coran, somehow, kept remarkably calm. Lance would have to ask him how he did it at some point. That was a pretty cool skill to have. Lance couldn’t lie at all.

“State your business,” the guard ordered.

Coran held up his hands with a smile. “My… companions and I have ventured to this fine city to discover the best food south of the North Pole! We have heard that they have quite delicious noodles here in Almora. You… wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”

“We don’t need your life story,” the guard said. “Names.”

“I am the great Hieronymous Smythe, and my companions are… Wimbleton, Coran, and Rhyssa!”

The guard looked unimpressed. “Ridiculous names…” He sighed. “Welcome to Almora.” He waved them in and let them pass.

Lance felt like they were staring at the group suspiciously as they passed.

Once they were far away from the guards, Pidge began snickering. “So who got the honor of being named after you?”

“All of you!” Coran said brightly. “Wimbleton was my grandfather, Coran was both me and my father, and my great-grandmother was Rhyssa!”

Allura let out a long-suffering sigh. Lance kind of felt the same.

…

When they entered the city, Pidge couldn’t help but gasp. This was amazing! She couldn’t believe a place like this existed! Beautiful, shining green roofs, smooth sand-colored stone, and swooping carts all over the place, set on tracks that sent whatever was inside where it needed to be.

“This is the Almora delivery system,” Allura explained with a bright smile. “It stretches on for miles across the city.”

“Earthbending controls a lot of it, but the ramps do the rest,” Coran said. “When I was young, we liked to ride in the carts.”

“Slav introduced me to it.” Allura grinned. “I suppose we have time.”

And that was how they found themselves piled into two carts, one for Pidge and Allura- and the mice, of course, who had taken to sitting on Allura’s shoulders, and one for Lance and Coran. They balanced at the top of the ramp.

“Ready?” Allura asked Pidge. Pidge liked Allura’s smile. It was nice to see her happy, after everything that had happened to her.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Pidge admitted.

Allura tipped the cart over onto the ramp, and they immediately started speeding down the ramp. Pidge began laughing, while they heard Lance’s screams from behind them. It was… fun. This was fun.

Pidge liked this.

Their eyes were watering as the wind whipped into them, but their smile was bright. This was great. This was probably the most fun thing Pidge had done in years.

“Guys! Look!” Lance exclaimed, worry in his voice. Pidge turned to spot a cart with swords speeding towards the two carts.

“Don’t worry,” Allura said. “Coran, you remember how to do this, correct?”

“Of course!”

Allura began tilting the cart until it was off the ramp and soaring in midair. This time, Pidge did scream. They landed on the roof, but didn’t stop. They kept going, the speed and gravity keeping their carts moving forward.

…

“Men, you’ll be going into combat soon,” the captain said. He studied each of them carefully. “When fighting the Fire Nation, it’s important to be prepared for anything.”

Two mail carts filled with people in almost pirate-like costumes and screaming hit the ground between the captain and the soldiers he was speaking to.

…

The carts bounced back up, and they went over a railing back onto solid ground. They knocked over a cart of pumpkins. Lance almost felt bad.

Finally, their carts skimmed over another roof and they landed back on the ramps. They went tearing down one last hill before hitting another cart, accompanied by a soldier. The carts went flying off the edge, and they nearly fell out, but Allura’s airbending kept them all in the carts. After a few perilous moments, they were back on a roof, and kept going down.

…

He didn’t particularly like this piece, but that was okay. It wasn’t about the vase itself- more of the practice.

So he whistled and worked, painting the vase. Maybe it was okay? No, he had messed up on the base. It probably wouldn’t stand on most surfaces.

His problems were solved when a mail cart tore through his window, crashed straight into the vase, shattering it, and went right back out the window.

“Sorry!” someone shouted.

…

They landed on a straight surface, but momentum kept them going, and they went right over the edge of the building, crashing through a wall.

…

Sal sighed. He couldn’t  _ believe _ they had refused him at the gate! They were so lucky he already had a stand in the market stocked with sustenance and a loyal clientele. Even if sometimes they stared at the sustenance in confusion.

Then, suddenly, a mail cart dropped straight onto his stand, ruining at least half of his stock.

A kid looked up at him sheepishly.

“Two portions?”

“Ten thousand gac,” Sal muttered.

…

Allura nervously looked around at the throne room. It was very… green? The lights, the carpeting, maybe the walls? The guard’s uniform and the king’s robes were also quite green.

All the green made her slightly sick.

“Your majesty, these juveniles… and, adult? Two adults?” The guard looked back at Allura and Coran in confusion before turning back to the king. “They were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of… sustenance.”

Allura was only twenty, thank you very much. Her white hair did not make her  _ old. _ Of course, none of them cared about that.

Sal glared at the guard. “Don’t forget not paying, they owe me at least twenty thousand gac!”

“Silence,” the guard said. “Your majesty, what judgment do you pass upon these people?”

“Hmm…” the king said. “Throw them a feast!”

The four stared flatly at the king. What? Was that code for something? Or was he actually going to throw them a feast?

…

As it turned out, he actually threw them a feast. What the quiznak?

Allura stared at the food for a moment before taking a portion and biting into it. Rich flavor filled her mouth. The others watched for a moment- probably to make sure that they wouldn’t drop dead or anything- before doing the same.

The king sat across from them. It occurred to her that she didn’t actually know his name of anything. That was kind of important, wasn’t it? She resolved to find out later.

“So, how did you end up in my city? It is very well protected! I made sure to get rid of all the cracks!”

“Cracks?” Lance echoed with a frown.

“Well, we came here to see how it had changed since… we last saw it,” Allura explained, carefully avoiding just  _ how long _ it had been. “We’re traveling north.”

“And how did you end up destroying so much? I made everything very safe when I became king!” the king exclaimed.

“We may have incorrectly used the mail system,” Coran admitted. “We had no idea it would create such a mess.”

“Do you have the blueprints for those, by the way?” Pidge asked eagerly.

“Of course I do! There is a 99.8742 percent chance that the Fire Nation will attack Almora!”

Allura frowned at the words. They seemed… vaguely familiar. Why? She highly doubted anyone had said that to her, either in the past few weeks or ten thousand years ago, so… what could possibly be familiar about that sentence?

“Where are you from? It could heavily impact the future!”

Why did this man have to end everything he said with an exclamation? That bothered Allura to no end. The Air Nomads had never done that, preferring to keep a calm that showcased their connection to the element.

“Well, Pidge and I are from the South Pole,” Lance said. He glanced over at Allura, and she didn’t really have an answer for the king either, but… oh well.

“Um, Coran and I hail fr om… Klanmüirl Island,” Allura lied awkwardly.

“Klanmüirl Island?” the king echoed. “I hear that place is quite dangerous! Risking attacks 67.49 percent of the day! No chance will I  _ ever _ go there.”

Finally, he ended a sentence without sounding excited. Allura was more relieved than she cared to admit.

“Now, I must go fix my blanket, it is getting quite late,” the king said. He stood, but then  _ something _ was suddenly flying at Allura’s face and she panicked.

There was an audible gasp, and Allura looked down to realize that she was  _ airbending. _ In front of all these people. This was not good. Not in the slightest.

“An airbender!” the king exclaimed. “From the moment you walked in the door I knew that the probability of an airbender in my city went up from ‘inconceivable’ to ‘improbable’!”

Allura dropped the thing she was airbending- was that meat? She wasn’t quite sure- and stared at the king.

“And if you’re an airbender, there is a 99.9987 percent chance that you are the Avatar!”

Allura didn’t respond. None of them did. They just sat there in silence. Coran, Pidge, and Lance were all as tense as Allura.

“What do you have to say?”

“Um…” Allura looked at her companions, who only gave her blank looks. “Yes. I am the Avatar.” She stood up, and the others did the same. They all backed away. “I’m afraid I have more important things to do… being the Avatar.”

The guards behind them crossed their spears, keeping the team from leaving. They all looked at each other in a panic.

“You can’t keep us here,” Pidge said.

“Let us go!” Lance exclaimed. He then whispered, “This guy is crazy!”

“Tomorrow, the Avatar will face three challenges,” the king said. “If you don’t survive, you have  _ no chance _ of defeating the Fire Nation!”

_ Of course. _ Allura sighed to herself.

“If Allura’s dead, we have no chance!” Coran near- _ wailed. _ Allura wasn’t totally sure if he was faking it or not.

…

They were taken to a room with no door. It was all earth. The guards used their earthbending to lock everyone inside, and that was that.

Lance didn’t like being prisoner very much. The room was totally great and everything, but they needed Allura? For pretty much everything? What if she died?

He flopped down onto a bed. This  _ sucked. _ The bed was nice, yeah, and surprisingly soft… but he didn’t want to die! Lance was too young for that! He was only eighteen! He hadn’t even peaked yet! And Allura shouldn’t die either. She was the Avatar. They probably wouldn’t get far without her.

“This is a prison cell?” Pidge asked skeptically.

“Perhaps it was newly refurbished,” Coran said with a small shrug. “Quite preferable to the dungeons on Unilu ships!”

Allura sighed. “I wonder what the challenges will be…”

“Doesn’t matter!” Lance exclaimed. “We’re leaving!”

“And how are we doing that?” Pidge asked dryly. “We’re stuck. In a rock.”

“A quite nice rock, in my experience,” Coran added.

“I’ll think of something,” Lance insisted. He threw his arm over his face, blocking out the bright lights. “Can’t be that difficult. We beat a Fire Nation prince twice…”

“Well, share with the class once you figure it out, O Great Master Planner,” Pidge said sarcastically with a sigh.

“I wonder how it is that he keeps finding us…?” Allura murmured.

“Maybe Keith’ll be nice enough to break us out of Earth Kingdom prison,” Lance said rather optimistically. “Seems pretty hell-bent on capturing Allura.”

“I doubt the Fire Nation prisons are better than this, my boy,” Coran said defeatedly. “I suppose we have no choice but to follow through on the trials.”

“This conversation is all over the place,” Pidge complained. “Are we talking about breaking out of here- although I doubt we’ll be able to escape from here, not without Allura spontaneously learning earthbending- or Lance’s newest crush?”

“What?” Lance squawked. “I do  _ not _ have a crush on him!”

“Relations with the enemy never end well,” Coran sighed. “I tried it once. It didn’t turn out all that well.”

“Well, you do keep bringing up ‘the hot firebender’,” Allura pointed out. “What does that mean? Is that a new term? Fire is quite warm.”

Lance groaned. “I’m not explaining that to you.”

“In all seriousness, though,” Pidge said. “How are we going to defeat Zarkon if he never dies? Or his son? We haven’t even  _ thought _ about his other, not Lance-approved son.”

“Lotor?” Allura asked. “I do wonder how either of them have managed to live for that long. Perhaps… have you heard of his wife?”

“Zarkon has a  _ wife?” _ Lance demanded. “How?”

“Shouldn’t that be hopeful for you?” Pidge asked dryly. “If even that guy can find a wife, you can find  _ someone _ to love you.”

“When I knew Zarkon, he was actually quite nice!” Coran said.

“You knew Zarkon?” Lance asked. He finally sat up to stare.

“That is a story for another day,” Allura said. “But I believe I met him once as well, with Coran. Coran was my caretaker when I was a child, and he was surprisingly close with Zarkon.”

“I wouldn’t say close,” Coran said, “but yes. I knew Zarkon.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” Pidge asked curiously. “That the person you’re vowing to defeat is someone that you once knew?”

“After what happened to him, I doubt he’s the same.” Coran sighed.

“Wait!” Allura exclaimed, her eyes wide. “I believe I have an idea!”

“What?” Lance asked, eager to get  _ out _ of this place.

“The mice,” Allura explained. “They can fit through the air vents on the wall! They simply have to go through the vents and find Voltron!"

“Of course!” Pidge smacked their face. “It was so obvious.”

“Good thinking, Allura,” Coran added.

“Yeah, I  _ really _ don’t want to stay in this place forever,” Lance said.

Allura and the mice walked over to the wall, and Allura tried to push one of the mice through. They didn’t fit.

“You know, that looks a lot bigger from over here,” Pidge said with a sigh.

“Guess we tried.” Lance yawned. “Tomorrow.”

Lance easily fell asleep after the long, confusing day.

...

When Allura woke up that morning, she was alone.

The rumble in the wall that meant a guard was opening a gap startled her awake. She sat up immediately and saw no sign of her three friends.

“Coran? Pidge? Lance?”

Nothing.

“Where are they?” Allura asked, standing and facing the guard in what she hoped was a powerful-looking stance.

“The king will free them if you complete your three challenges,” the guard told her.

“But what will happen to them if I fail?” Allura asked nervously. She didn’t want these people to die because she hadn’t been good enough.

“He didn’t say.” The guard held out his hand. “Your staff, please?”

Allura frowned at him, but used her airbending to bring the staff up into the guard’s hand.

He led her down long hallways, turns she couldn’t possibly memorize if she needed to leave, but eventually Allura found herself once again in the presence of the strange king. She still had no idea what his name was.

“Give me back my team,” Allura said coldly. “We don’t have time for crazy games. We need to leave.”

“I thought you might say that!” A wall went down with a rumble and there were Pidge, Coran, and Lance, all stubbornly trying not to appear scared. Allura had spent enough time with them the past few weeks to know that they were.

Rings were slipped onto their fingers, and Allura realized what they were when a crystal began creeping up from the base of the ring.

Those rings would trap her friends inside crystal if she did not go through with the king’s challenges.

“There is a 100 percent chance your friends will be covered in crystal by nightfall.”

The confirmation only made Allura’s stomach drop.

“Fine. I’ll participate in the challenges.”

…

Allura faced a cave with a waterfall running straight down the middle, from an opening in the roof of the cave. Something was dangling in the center of it, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was from this distance.

“I can’t reach the key to my door because the chances of me  _ drowning _ are highly likely!” the king exclaimed. “I cannot remember if I learned how to swim in this reality!”

That sounded  _ very _ familiar to Allura, but she couldn’t quite figure out why. Something in her distant memories tugged at her, but she couldn’t identify exactly what it was.

Allura heaved a sigh. The “key” the king spoke of must be whatever was in the middle of the water. She now saw a ladder underneath it. Taking the easy route, Allura jumped down to get closer, hopping from spike to spike that covered the bottom of the cave, then launched herself towards the ladder.

She found herself submerged in water, and she used airbending to create a bubble from which she could breathe. Allura finally grasped one of the bottom rungs of the ladder. But the water coming down from the waterfall was heavy and loosened her grip, and as her focus divided Allura found her air bubble growing smaller and smaller.

Finally, she was tossed out of the water with a shout. Allura quickly grabbed onto a stalagmite and found her balance. She let out a breath of relief. Allura looked up at the balcony where Pidge, Lance, and Coran were smiling at her supportively. She collected herself and got up again, leaping from stalagmite to stalagmite quickly. But this time, she found one connected to a stalactite on the ceiling and she balanced herself between the spikes on the roof of the cave.

Allura stared down at the raging waterfall for a moment, organizing her thoughts, before diving down towards the key in the center of the water, using her airbending to go faster and cut through the water easier. She immediately found herself torn from her path and pushed down the waterfall, ending up hitting a spike on the floor once again. Allura groaned. Why was this proving to be so difficult? She was the Avatar, for quiznak’s sake!

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened then again and looked between the rock spire she was desperately clinging to and the key. The key was hanging on a chain, so there must be a way to separate whatever the chain was connected to and the key.

Allura used her strength to break off the top of the stalagmite before hurling it towards the key with all of the force she could. It whipped through the air, and she sent an extra gust of wind for good measure. The stalagmite went straight through the chain, and momentum kept it going until it buried itself in the rock wall above the balcony where the king and her friends watched.

“Congratulations!” the king exclaimed. “In most realities, you  _ died!” _

She really didn’t like this man.

…

The next challenge found Allura in an arena.

“Bring Laika back! Ever since I rescued her from the warden, she’s been quite lonely!”

Allura assumed Laika was the king’s pet of some sort. She spotted a small, dog-like creature and stepped toward it. That must be Laika. Why was this a challenge?

“Come here, Laika,” Allura called softly, although she had a feeling the words came out rather annoyed. She approached the creature slowly and nearly reached it before a thump sounded behind her. The dog-like creature ran away, leaving Allura to turn around and face the thing behind her.

It looked slightly similar to the dog-like creature, although bigger and… scarier. It was taller than Allura, and she would really prefer not to fight it.

Of course, the creature got a gleam in its eyes and jumped at Allura with a growl. Allura jumped up in the air and made sure to be far away before landing. The smaller creature tore past her with a shriek.

“Laika!” Allura exclaimed, chasing after it. The sound of the bigger creature’s footsteps shook Allura like it was pounding inside her heart.

Allura did a sharp turn, following the small creature, until it vanished into a hole. There was no way she could fit in there. What did she  _ do? _ She glanced between where the little one had vanished and to where the large one was snarling as it ran towards her. An idea suddenly formed in Allura’s mind.

“Laika?” she tried asking the larger creature.

It immediately settled down with a bright expression. Allura gave a high-pitched laugh. Of  _ course. _

The king called Laika to him. While he was distracted, Allura jumped up onto the balcony where her friends were watching.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yes, for the time being,” Coran answered.

The crystals were covering everything but Lance and Coran’s head and legs. Pidge, being much shorter, was almost completely encased in the crystal, with their face just above their mouth the only part of them visible.

Allura nodded and turned back to the king. “I’m prepared for the last challenge.”

“Then… what is my name?”

Allura’s eyes widened, startled. His  _ name? _ How was she supposed to know that? She didn’t even know this man! “That’s not a fair challenge.”

“There is only a 2 percent chance you will not solve the challenge before all of your friends are totally doomed!” The king paused before adding, “There are  _ infinite realities _ where you do not know my name!”

Allura stared at him for a moment before it clicked. The strange speech. The odd obsession with percentages. The familiarity of it all. “Slav?”

“See? I knew you could do it!”

The crystals cracked off, and Pidge, Lance, and Coran stumbled out.

“How did you live for so long?” Allura asked.

“In this reality, I  _ did _ learn to swim!” Slav answered vaguely, which contradicted his statement from earlier, but Allura didn’t mind.

Allura wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but she nodded. “Are we free to leave now?” It was nice to learn that not everyone she knew was dead. There were ways around it, it seemed. Perhaps others would be out there as well.

“You’re welcome back anytime- as long as you bring the blue one! Blue light has a frequency between 606 to 608 terahertz!”

“Is that good or something?” Lance asked dubiously.

“That’s my lucky range of terahertz!”

…

So, in the end, they got out of it alive.

They were alright.

Lance didn’t enjoy being eaten by a crystal, but at least it was over. And who knew? Maybe that whole experience would be helpful someday, if… there was ever a crystal monster. Or something. Lance still didn’t get  _ why _ Slav had to do that, but at least he was on their side now.

Whatever the future held, their team was back together again, flying on Voltron, and they wouldn’t be torn apart.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i've finally written out character plans for the first two seasons. as it turns out, there are A LOT of named galra? wow season 3's going to be a blast)
> 
> let me know if it still says "telria" somewhere in the chapter, that was a mistake


	6. Imprisoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shay and rax(would have been 100 times better with hunk, i know, he's coming eventually i promise)  
> lil bit of pallura  
> langst for a cause  
> lots of time skips

Pidge folded their blankets, letting out a soft breath at how peaceful everything seemed. They were somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, although none of them were quite sure where, exactly, they were.

When they were younger, Pidge remembered, they didn’t like the outdoors all that much. They would rather have stayed inside than explore the world around them. Now, Pidge couldn’t even imagine that- how did they not go crazy, with nearly a decade of having minimal contact with the outside world? It was a wonder that they didn’t understand.

Here Pidge was, in nature, camping every single night, with people she would never have met had they not gone to the docks to find her family that night.

“Alright, guys, it’s time for a meal!” Coran called. “I picked up some of that ‘sustenance’ from that guy in Almora!”

“That stuff didn’t look edible,” Lance pointed out, but he sat down anyway and held his bowl out. “If we ever get another person to join our team, they’ve gotta be able to cook. We should just hold cooking auditions or something.”

Pidge snorted. “Yeah, because who cares about Allura learning earthbending or firebending, we need food.”

Lance squinted at them. “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.” Pidge only gave a shrug in response. Lance could _never_ tell.

Coran pulled out a bag and tore it open, then dumped the contents into Lance’s bowl.

“Is that… supposed to be food?” Allura asked, poking it in confusion.

“I’ll have you know it’s quite nutritious!” Coran objected indignantly.

Pidge just stared. Did Coran really think that was edible? What did people _eat_ ten thousand years ago? That was disgusting.

“I think we should go berry-hunting instead,” Pidge said, their nose wrinkled. “I think our combined knowledge will be enough to make sure we don’t eat something poisonous.”

“So much knowledge,” they thought they heard Lance mutter. Pidge did _not_ care about Lance’s “sensitive pallet” and the story he told about natural foods being “bad for the skin”. If worst comes to worst, Lance could just wear his war paint all the time.

A loud rumble suddenly shook the ground.

“What was that?” Lance squeaked, a contrast to how annoyed he had sounded earlier.

The rumble sounded again. It almost felt like an earthquake- at least, what an earthquake had seemed like in books. Pidge had never experienced an earthquake- and if they did, they didn’t remember what it felt like.

“It came from over there,” Allura said, pointing.

Allura took off running, Pidge close behind. Coran followed.

“Shouldn’t we run _away_ from huge booms, not _towards_ them?” Lance cried, but ran after them anyway.

The rumbling, which had no pattern, so Pidge ruled out any technology, became louder as they approached. They hauled themselves up a fallen tree trunk, then froze. In front of them was a girl who was surprisingly tall and muscular. A rock suddenly flew up in the air, and Pidge stared for a moment before realizing what that was. Earthbending. That girl was an earthbender!

“That’s an earthbender,” Allura said, sounding shocked. It wasn’t like they hadn’t met earthbenders before- but what was this girl doing out here? Why couldn’t she practice earthbending somewhere closer to civilization? Because, really, and Pidge knew from experience- this place was the middle of nowhere.

“Shall we say hello?” Coran asked.

“She looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously,” Lance said quietly.

Pidge looked at all of them for a moment before pulling themselves the rest of the way up the trunk and onto the other side. “Um, hey, I’m Pidge. Who’re you?”

The girl jumped and the rock she had been earthbending fell to the ground.

“Pidge! Get back here! She could be dangerous!” Lance hissed, but they didn’t even turn to look back at him.

Instead of introducing herself or talking, or _literally anything else,_ the girl ran away, earthbending to make a barrier of rocks in front of where she had left.

“That was strange,” Coran said, twirling his mustache. “I wonder what that was all about?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Allura sighed. “But perhaps there is a village nearby, where we can purchase food…?”

“Good idea!” Lance exclaimed. “We’re not having goo for dinner!”

“Does that qualify as goo?” Pidge asked. “Or is it more of a slop?”

“Does it matter?” Lance demanded.

“I’ll have you know that Air Nomad food ‘goo’ is quite delicious, as I’m sure those packets would have been,” Coran said with a sigh. “But solid food probably is good for the modern stomach.”

“We have modern stomachs now, Coran!” Allura pointed out, a small smile on her face. Pidge wished Allura could smile forever. Her smile was so… nice.

…

They soon found themselves in a small village with friendly people and plenty of food. Coran was relieved to see this. He did like normal food, despite his defense of the “sustenance”.

“Hey, there’s that girl from earlier!” Lance whispered louder than was probably polite.

Indeed, the girl from before was vanishing inside a building, closing the door behind her. They all looked at each other for a moment before Coran stepped forward and entered, the others trailing behind.

Inside was a pleasant-looking shop, although it was dimly lit. Random wares filled the walls and floor. It all looked rather traditional- more like something Coran would imagine even before his time than over ten thousand years later.

“Why did you run away earlier?” Pidge asked bluntly. Lance nudged them in the side, and Coran understood with the sentiment. That was a rather… bold approach, compared to how the girl had reacted before.

The girl whirled around, her eyes wide. “I am sorry? I believe you have the wrong person.”

“No, they don’t,” Allura jumped in. “We saw your earthbending.”

The girl and the boy behind the counter of the shop both gasped.

“These ones saw you earthbending?” the boy demanded. He ran to the windows and closed the shutters, then locked the door.

“No, Rax, you misheard!” the girl insisted.

“Shay, I have warned you of your earthbending!” the boy, Rax, exclaimed quietly. “It has torn our family asunder, and I will not allow you to fall as well.”

“Torn your family asunder?” Allura echoed. “Why?”

Rax and Shay glanced at each other before Shay spoke up. “The Fire Nation arrived and took all of our earthbenders, and they will take any who are discovered earthbending.”

“We have been wary of _outsiders_ such as yourselves ever since,” Rax added coldly, glaring at each of them individually. Coran wasn’t sure how he felt about this boy’s anger.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door, accompanied by a voice. “Open up!”

Lance peeked through the window shutters. “It’s Fire Nation soldiers!”

“But we never told anyone of your earthbending,” Coran said. Rax still gave him a violent look.

“Simply act as though you belong here,” Rax ordered. Everyone got in their positions, talking easily and looking through objects like that was what they had been doing the whole time. Rax opened the door to the soldiers. “What do you want? I’ve already paid my fees for the week.”

“The tax just doubled,” the soldier said. Fire began forming in his hands. “And we wouldn’t want an accident, would we? Fire is powerful, and very difficult to control.”

Rax stared at him for a moment before nodding. “I will fetch the gac.”

Everyone watched as Rax hurried to the back of the store and pulled out a small lockbox. He picked up the coins inside and handed them to the soldier.

The soldier simply gave an evil-looking smirk and walked away, slamming the door behind him. This was Coran’s first experience with daily life under Fire Nation occupation. He had to say, it wasn’t pleasant in the slightest.

“Nice guy,” Lance said, staring at the closed door for a second before turning back to Shay and Rax. “How long has the Fire Nation been here?”

“Five years,” Shay said sadly. “Emperor Zarkon uses our town’s mines to fuel his ships, and the crystals found here are very expensive.”

“They steal from us,” Rax said angrily. “They take our money and our people until we have nothing to fight back with.”

“They take your people?” Allura asked, surprised. “For what purpose?”

“They take our earthbenders away on ships to do labor, where there is no earth,” Shay explained. “Without them, we are powerless to do anything. They have taken all of our family. We are the only ones left.”

…

“You can sleep here tonight,” Rax said. “But I am only allowing this in exchange for your promises of secrecy on Shay’s abilities.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” Pidge said. They themselves weren’t sure if that was supposed to be sarcastic or not. They really didn’t want Rax to get any angrier than he already was. Was he like that _all the time?_ The guy really needed a break.

Rax squinted suspiciously at them before nodding and leaving.

For the night, Rax had let the team stay in a barn not far from his and Shay’s house. It wasn’t all that nice, but for the past few weeks they had been sleeping in the middle of the forest, so the tiniest taste of civilization was nice.

Pidge’s standards weren’t very high anymore.

Voltron, who had just barely managed to squeeze into the cave, curled up in front of the entrance, shielding them from the outside. That was… nice. Pidge smiled as they leaned against Voltron’s soft left paw.

Falling asleep was the easiest it had been in a long time. Lance was at their right, a constant presence throughout the past six years, and Allura at their left, someone Pidge was growing to love- in what way, they weren’t quite sure, but it was there. Pidge was among people they could trust.

Falling asleep was nice.

…

Lance couldn’t sleep. He had slept for maybe half an hour with Pidge snuggled into his side, but what felt like hours later he still lay awake. So he crept out of the cave, squeezing past Voltron, and stared at the stars.

The stars were always nice. The stars were always there, even when you couldn’t see them. The stars wouldn’t die- at least, when they did, it took a long time to know. Sometimes that was reassuring, but other times it wasn’t. It was like being haunted by a ghost.

Some days, Lance felt haunted by a ghost. He was a happy, extroverted person at heart- but after the death of his family, it had been hard. Mama. Veronica. Luis. Marco. The only person he had left was his papa, but he hadn’t seen his papa in years.

Lance’s fingers automatically searched for the anklet his mother had given him when he was little, before he could properly fit it. Most types of jewelry were considered wasteful at the South Pole, where you layered clothes over clothes in an effort to keep warm. But that hadn’t stopped Lance’s mama, so he didn’t let it stop him.

He had started wearing the anklet right after their deaths. It had been the thing that he had clung to, his reminder of them. At some point, Lance had realized that he didn’t need an anklet to remember. But he still wore it, if only to honor their memory.

Lance sometimes felt like a stupid story character. The one that was supposed to be written as a dramatic hero with a sad backstory, but got mixed up with the crazy, fun sidekick. There were so many other people that had lost their family in the war with the Fire Nation- Pidge, Allura, Coran, Shay, Rax, probably even firebenders. Keith seemed like the type to have a sob story. Even Zarkon must have lost someone over ten thousand years.

Lance sighed. This was depressing, wasn’t it?

“Hello,” someone said quietly. Lance turned to see Shay. She gave a small, weak smile. “Your name is Lance, right?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Shay sat down a little ways away from Lance. She looked up at the stars. “Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be among the skylings.”

“Skylings?”

“My family tells stories of spirits that came from the sun, the moon, the stars. I wish I could be there as well.”

Lance didn’t know what to say to that, so he just looked away, back up at the sky.

“Do you ever feel as though you are missing a part of your life that has yet to exist?” Shay asked suddenly. “You know _something_ is meant to be, and you wish for it to become a reality, but you don’t know what that something is?”

“Sometimes,” Lance admitted. “Like there could be a bright future out there, waiting, but you just can’t find it.”

They sat in silence for a moment before a shout pierced the chilly air.

“It came from the mines!” Shay exclaimed. She leaped up and ran, Lance following.

They ran for a little while before they reached a mining shaft. The entrance was collapsed, but a man was trapped underneath the rubble.

“Help me!” he cried. He was old and clearly too weak to move the earth on his own.

Lance tried to pull the man out of the rocks, and Shay tried to push the rocks back, but it didn’t work.

“It’s not working!” Lance exclaimed. He turned to Shay with wide eyes. “What do we do?”

“There’s no time to get help,” Shay said anxiously. “Pull harder?”

“There’s a way you can help…”

“I can’t!” Shay exclaimed.

“We don’t have anything else we could do!” Lance cried.

Shay took a deep breath and nodded. She backed away from the rocks before using earthbending to clear them by pushing them further into the cave, freeing the man from where he had been trapped underneath.

“Are you alright?” Shay asked the man. He gave a dazed groan in response.

…

Lance slipped back into the barn and fell asleep surprisingly easy, resting against Voltron’s soft, warm fur.

He fell asleep and stayed that way for much longer than half an hour.

…

That night, a group of Fire Nation soldiers marched up to the house. They knocked on the door twice, and it was opened by a girl. She gasped upon seeing the additional member of their party, a familiar old man.

“That’s her! That’s the earthbender!”

…

The next morning, Pidge was preparing to leave when they noticed Rax standing outside, alone, staring out at the ocean beyond the mountains. He turned around and Pidge was alarmed to see tears in his eyes.

Pidge dropped the bowl they were holding when they realized what had happened.

…

Allura stood up immediately when Pidge entered. They had a distressed look on their face that shouldn’t have been there. What was going on?

“Firebenders took Shay,” Pidge said.

“What?” Lance exclaimed. “Oh no, this is all my fault…”

“What did you do?” Rax demanded, stepping into the barn behind Pidge. “What did you do to make them take my baby sister away?”

“There was a guy trapped in a mineshaft, and he was going to die if Shay didn’t earthbend!” Lance said, a guilty expression on his face. “I’m sorry, Rax, really…”

“You are going to get my sister back,” Rax ordered. “Shay does not deserve her life taken away for your failure.”

“What if we got ourselves arrested for earthbending?” Pidge suggested.

“How?” Allura asked, her eyes wide.

“Well, we just need to convince them that we’re earthbenders, and get caught ‘earthbending,’” Pidge said. “Then they’ll take us to where they took Shay.”

“That could work,” Lance agreed. He looked at the others. Allura and Coran nodded. “Then what are we waiting for?”

“I will be the ‘earthbender,’” Allura said. “I believe I have an idea on how I could trick them into believing I can earthbend…”

…

Allura and Pidge stood in the center of what Lance had lovingly dubbed “the rock field”. Lance and Coran were both hidden from sight, but Pidge knew they were watching.

“Fire Nation soldiers are coming!” Lance’s voice warned. Pidge and Allura nodded in response.

After a few moments, Pidge could hear the soldiers’ footsteps. They took a deep breath, glanced at Allura, who gave another nod, and started the “argument”.

“I like peanut butter, but not peanuts. They’re disgusting,” Pidge claimed. They could only hope that their voice didn’t sound fake.

“What? How dare you!” Allura exclaimed. “Peanuts are a gift to the world!”

“Only if you turn them into a butter,” Pidge said. “Have you ever had peanut cookies? They’re gross. But peanut butter- now that’s good.”

“I can’t believe you would betray me in such a way!” Allura cried. “I’ll show you how good peanuts are, earthbending style!” She sent a gust of wind under a rock, and it flew up in the air.

The soldiers, who had stopped marching to watch their argument, gasped.

“Those mice are earthbending!” one exclaimed, pointing to where the mice sat underneath the rock.

“It’s the girl, idiot,” Pidge said, rolling their eyes.

“Oh!” the soldier said. “You are… under arrest for earthbending, miss!”

Allura faked a gasp, and sent a small grin to Pidge as she was dragged away. Pidge had a feeling this plan would either turn out great or really terribly.

…

Allura sat in a cart, watching the world go by around her. She was at the docks now, and she could see Coran’s orange hair out of the corner of her eye. A fairly small ship was anchored there, and this one didn’t have the fascinating design feature of a built-in ramp. Instead, rickety wooden planks connected the boat to the pier.

She got out of the cart at the order of the firebenders and walked up onto the boat. Her nerves were almost overwhelming.

…

Lance was flying Voltron, and he wasn’t totally sure if that was a good thing or not. He had almost no control- the lion was pretty much flying them, and she wasn’t happy about Allura being on that boat instead of on her back.

“Do you think this will work?” he asked Pidge. “I mean, will we have to swoop in and save the day or something?”

“I think Allura is capable of solving this on her own,” Pidge said. “It’s dangerous, but what isn’t? We’re literally sitting on a flying lion.”

“That’s true!” Coran chirped. “Ten thousand years ago, flying a winged lion was one of the most dangerous sports in the world!”

“Well, now we’re fighting a war,” Lance said quietly. “Who knows what can happen?”

Nobody, really. Pidge didn’t have the slightest idea what was going to happen next, and that really bothered them.

Voltron suddenly picked up the speed and flew faster, and they all saw the giant floating base up ahead. The scent of coal and metal, even from this distance, felt like it was burning their noses.

“We’ll be fine,” Coran said, although that wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.

…

Allura and six other earthbenders stood in a line. She gritted her teeth and tried to distract herself from the firebender’s words and the harsh reality of the place she had just been taken to.

“Earthbenders,” the firebender said. “It is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard.”

It clearly wasn’t, Allura could tell from the way he sneered at them that he hated earthbenders to an extent she couldn’t understand at all.

“I am your warden.” That smile gave Allura chills. “I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as _honored guests._ And I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host.” He paced up and down the line. “You will succeed here if you simply abide-”

Someone coughed, and the warden froze. The fake smile on his face quickly dropped and turned into a grimace. He turned around toward the prisoner that had coughed- he was right next to Allura- and sent a burst of flame at the prisoner’s feet. The prisoner cringed away with a fearful cry.

“What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him? Take him below!” the warden ordered. “One week in solitary will improve his manners.”

The man didn’t struggle at all when the soldiers dragged him away. Allura realized the cruel nature of this place. These people had no ability to bend out here on a metal monstrosity in the ocean. They saw no point in fighting back anymore.

Allura would change that. She _had to._

“Simply treat me with the courtesy I give you,” the warden said, stepping far too close to Allura, “and we’ll get along famously.”

The warden led Allura and the rest of her group along a narrow walkway, giving everyone a good view of the people working exhaustedly at the metal below. The sound of hammers hitting metal began filling Allura’s mind. This was not right. She couldn’t even imagine what it’d be like to stand there as only an earthbender, far away from home.

“You will notice, earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth. So, if you have any illusions about employing that brutish, savagery that passes as bending among you people, forget them.”

Allura looked out to the sunset in despair. How long had these people been living like this?

The warden left them at a door. The soldiers escorted everyone out onto the deck, the door closing behind them. It was certain that there was no way to escape the way they had come- but that was okay, wasn’t it? Allura still had her airbending, and a little bit of waterbending. They were surrounded by air and water…

The oppressive feeling of this place was already getting to her.

She walked around the deck, giving everyone quick glances before determining they weren’t who she was looking for. After a while, Allura almost gave up- after all, she could just jump up into the air and Voltron and her friends would be there. But then-

“Allura?” She whirled around to see Shay standing there, a dazed look on her face. “What…?”

“Shay!” Allura exclaimed quietly. “You’re alright!”

“What are you doing here?” Shay asked.

“It is the fault of me and my friends that brought you here,” Allura said. “So we are here to rescue you.”

“You were arrested? Because of me?” Shay sighed, shaking her head. “Thank you, Allura. I am eternally grateful for the risk you’ve taken.”

“It is something we must do,” Allura told her honestly.

“There are people you must meet,” Shay said, a small smile on her face. She led Allura through the crowd of people to three earthbenders that looked a lot like Shay. “Allura, this is my mother, my father, and my grandmother.”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Allura said simply.

“Greetings,” the others said in unison.

“Please have some food,” Shay’s grandmother said, holding out a bowl of what might be food? Allura wasn’t quite sure, but she gingerly took it anyway, not wanting to offend.

Allura and Shay joined the circle. Allura timidly ate a bite. It tasted better than she would have thought. Had these people been living off of this? Again, how long had they been here?

“Do you plan on escaping?” Allura asked nervously. The others all stared at her.

“Escaping? How? The Fire Nation has taken away all of our weapons and resources,” Shay’s father said.

“Not all of them,” Allura said. “I am an airbender, and I can help. My friends are up there.” She pointed to the sky.

“I can ask the others, but I know not what they will say,” Shay said. “Many have lived here for years- they have known nothing but this ship for a long time.”

“Years?” Allura echoed. “That’s far too long to be separated from the earth!”

“Yes,” Shay’s mother said sadly, “but it is the truth.”

“Can you speak to the other earthbenders and see what they have to say?” Allura asked. Shay nodded and stood up- the rest of her family did the same. Allura took another bite of her food before setting it aside, hoping to never eat something like that again.

It was kind of funny, wasn’t it? This had started with thinking about a hunt for better food, and here Allura was, definitely not eating better food.

After a while, Shay’s family returned, shaking their heads.

“I am afraid they do not wish to fight the Fire Nation,” Shay said. “They believe it to be too dangerous.”

“Then I will have to convince them otherwise.” Allura stood up and looked around for a higher place to give her speech. A small platform was nearby. She stepped onto it, thinking for a moment before speaking. “Earthbenders, my name is Allura. You don’t know me, but I know you. I know what it is like to have your home taken away from you, for I am the last airbender.”

People turned to stare, and whispers broke out.

_The Avatar!_

“I know how it feels to give up. But you must not give up. You still have a chance! If the Fire Nation wins, you will never return home. I made the choice to run, ten thousand years ago. I did nothing, and so many people died from the results of my actions. You now face the same choice. Run away from the problem and forget about it? Or will you fight back against the Fire Nation? I know it isn’t easy, but you must! There is still a chance to win this war!”

There was silence, then the whispers returned. They stared at Allura, but she kept her steady stance and firm gaze.

A woman stepped up, her eyes wide. “Your words have touched our hearts. We _can_ fight back.”

Allura gave a grim smile. “Then we shall.” She sent a gust of air into the sky, clearing the clouds and revealing Voltron. People gasped, earthbenders and firebenders alike, as the winged lion swooped down with a mighty roar.

“Revolt!” a soldier shouted. “Alert the warden!”

Her friends slipped off Voltron’s back and ran to Allura.

“What do we do now?” Lance asked.

“We need to find a way to create earth,” Allura said. She frowned. “Pidge, do you know a way?”

“This place probably runs on coal, right?” Pidge asked. “If you can use your airbending to bring up the coal, Lance can mix it with water, and we’ll have a mud-like substance that the earthbenders can use!”

“Brilliant!” Coran exclaimed. “Hurry! The guards are coming!”

Allura focused, and coal began spilling out of vents and onto the deck of the ship. Lance grinned and brought up a wave of water, washing it over the coal. The cheers of the earthbenders grew louder, and they immediately began using the earth that they had been missing for far too long.

...

The battle didn’t last long. The earthbenders slowly took over more of the ship, with the help of Allura, Pidge, Lance, and Coran, and even Voltron helped. By the time the last firebender was knocked out or dead, the sun was beginning to rise.

Allura took a deep breath, her muscles sore from fighting for so long. She smiled lightly at the sunrise. This was the dawn of a new day.

“I do not know how we could ever repay you,” Shay said.

“If you’re there when we need you, that is payment enough,” Allura said.

The ship of earthbenders slowly made its way back to land, and Allura found herself satisfied at their first true victory.

They were all happy.

...

“My mama’s anklet! It’s gone!”

“What?”

…

Keith picked up the anklet in confusion. It looked… kind of familiar. Vaguely Water Tribe-y? He knew the Avatar had been here, and she was with that waterbender from the North Pole. Was it possible that it was his?

He nodded. There would be a way to use this, he was sure. Tracking the Avatar was all that mattered.

And if Keith briefly thought of what had happened on the South Pole? _“You got a name, sweetheart? I'm Lance. Nice to meet ya.”_

Well, that was nobody’s business.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the bois will be back in the next chapter(thank god)
> 
> /hello motivation my old friennnnnd... i've come to talk with you againnnnn/
> 
> edit(august 7): sorry for the chapter taking absolutely forever, family vacation and stuff, so i'll do my best to get next chapter up soon! thanks for reading!


	7. The Astral Plane (Winter Solstice, Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shiro's floof with a side of backstory  
> allura allura allura  
> a twist that you probably weren't expecting but i'm trash

Voltron flew above the clouds, leaving them in a brilliant blue sky. Despite the cold that was slowly creeping over the world, the rolling plains and forests far below were lush and green.

“The clouds look so soft,” Lance said. “I wonder what they feel like?”

“Clouds are made of water,” Pidge pointed out. “I’m pretty sure you’d just get wet. But if you want to jump off, go ahead. Wouldn’t be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”

“Hey!” Lance complained. He was silent for a moment before adding, almost in a mumble, “But I kinda still want to…”

“If you wanted to fall, Voltron would catch you!” Coran offered, beaming.

“I’m quite interested in the result as well,” Allura said, although she knew from experience that Lance would simply end up drenched.

Lance didn’t move, so Pidge sighed, got up, and pushed him off Voltron’s back, straight into the clouds below. He screamed, but Voltron swooped underneath and picked up Lance.

He shivered in the cool air and tried to waterbend all of the water out of his clothing. “I can’t believe you did that to me, Pidge!” Pidge, the gremlin, only grinned at him. Actually, Lance could believe it.

Allura suddenly gasped. “What is that?”

Everyone scrambled to where they could see the ground from Voltron. Below, parts of the land were black, all along one side of the river. There was no blend. From one spot it was green, and the other was just… dark.

“It’s like a scar,” Coran whispered, his words almost lost to the wind.

“We should check it out,” Lance said.

“I want to find out what happened,” Pidge agreed with a nod.

Voltron soared down to the ground, allowing them all to slide off her back before folding her wings and glancing around. The others did the same. They had landed in an open space that might have once been a clearing, judging from the charred, black stumps that took up most of the space around them.

“This was a forest…” Allura whispered.

“Listen,” Lance said softly. “It’s so quiet. There’s… no life anywhere.”

“Allura, are you okay?” Pidge asked, stepping up to Allura’s side. Allura didn’t reply.

Coran was studying the surrounding area before noticing something. “This was done by firebenders!”

“Firebenders!” Lance spat. “Those evil…” His voice trailed off weakly. The spot where his anklet should have been itched. Where was his mama’s anklet now?

Allura knelt down with a sigh. Her mind was racing, but the most overwhelming emotion she felt was grief. Grief, for this entire forest, for all of the life that had once been here. “It is the duty of the Avatar to protect nature, but I’ve failed.”

“It’s not your fault, Allura,” Coran said gently. “It wasn’t your choice, what happened.”

Privately, Lance wondered what  _ did _ happen- how had they gotten frozen in the ice? Why? But he didn’t press for answers. It wasn’t the time.

“I don’t know how to be the Avatar,” Allura murmured. “The monks at the Southern Air Temple always told me that I would need to talk to Avatar Alfor, but…”

“He died over ten thousand years ago, how are you supposed to talk to him?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know.” Allura visibly wilted, and the sight of someone strong like her falling was enough to make Lance cringe. The mice scrambled over to her, and Allura stroked them gently, but they wouldn’t give any answers.

…

“ _ Shiro! _ It’s time to go!” Keith shouted, pushing past the plants that blocked his way. “Where are you? Shiro!”

“Over here, Keith!” Shiro’s voice responded. Keith followed it to the source and immediately facepalmed at the sight. Shiro was sitting, cross-legged, above a tunnel steadily blowing warm wind into the air, his helmet off, letting his tuft of white hair bounce in the hot air.

“Shiro, what are you  _ doing?” _ Keith asked. He stared at Shiro. He looked so… calm. Peaceful.

“I’m relaxing, Keith, and you should do the same,” Shiro said. “You’ve been so focused on the Avatar that you haven’t had any time to rest.”

Keith frowned. “I don’t  _ need _ rest, Shiro, I’m-” he faltered. His argument was the exact opposite of Shiro’s, and Shiro would just say that hunting the Avatar was  _ not _ a valid reason to not relax. “Fine, stay here for a bit. Be back at the ship in half an hour.”

Shiro sighed. “Sure, Keith.”

For a moment, Keith wanted to join Shiro in relaxing, and simply soak up the warmth of the air. He wanted to be happy with his brother beside him and not worry about things. But Keith couldn’t do that. He had more important things to do.

So he turned around and stalked back to the ship, trying not to feel too jealous of Shiro. After all, the man had gone through a lot to get to that point. Things that made Keith’s exile seem pathetic.

Because Keith was just a spoiled prince, and what did he know, after all?

…

“Hey Allura, are you ready to be cheered up?” Pidge asked.

“No,” Allura said quietly, then yelped. Something had hit her side. An acorn. “How is that supposed to cheer me up?”

“It’s a sign of new life,” Pidge said. “Just because there are dead trees here now doesn’t mean there won’t ever be trees again. Acorns are all over the place.”

Allura picked up the acorn gently and nodded. She gave a small smile. It  _ was _ new life. Things would be better. Like the rebirth of the Avatar. “Thank you, Pidge.”

“Anytime,” Pidge said, but they suddenly turned their head up and gasped.

Allura turned to follow Pidge’s gaze and saw an old man walking towards them. He had a green robe and a walking stick. His hair and long beard were almost haggard in their obvious lack of care. Lance was probably freaking out about that- Allura had learned early on that he cared about his appearance very much. The man’s eyes were fixed on Allura.

“Hey, who are you?” Lance demanded, standing up quickly. Allura and Pidge did the same.

“When I saw the winged lion, I thought it was impossible,” the man said, walking closer and closer until he was barely a pace away from Allura. “But your markings… are you the Avatar, child?”

Allura briefly glanced at Pidge before nodding.

“My village desperately needs your help.”

…

The man led them to his village. It was nearly sunset by the time they reached it. The village would have been normal, had it not been for the destruction. Many of the buildings were destroyed in some way, and it looked like reconstruction had only just begun.

Pidge wondered how this had happened. What could cause such mass devastation?

They were all lead into the largest building, which they assumed was the town hall. The man introduced them to the people inside.

“This young person is the Avatar.” He gestured to Allura, who mustered a smile.

A person, who was wearing slightly higher-class clothing, hurried over to them. “So the rumors of your return are true! It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence.” They bowed to Allura, who bowed back. Pidge could practically sense Allura’s discomfort. Allura hadn’t been greeted like this before, had she?

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Allura said. She hesitated before adding, “Is… there something my friends and I can do for you?”

“I’m not sure…” the leader said slowly. They looked away.

“Our village is in crisis!” the old man that had led them there exclaimed to the leader. “She’s our only hope!” He turned back to Allura. “For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village!”

Pidge looked out to where the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. Did that mean it would be coming soon? Why was it attacking in the first place? What did it want? They didn’t understand very much about spirits, but they got the idea that they primarily lived on the astral plane and very rarely deigned to visit the real world.

“He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit.”

“Why is it attacking you?” Lance asked, voicing Pidge’s own questions.

“We do not know,” the leader said, stepping past them to the doorway. They stopped, staring out. “But each of the last three nights, she has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near.”

“What happens on the winter solstice?” Pidge asked, adjusting their glasses with a frown.

“As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the astral plane grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely,” the old man said gravely.

“Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction,” the leader added. “Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen!”

“So what do you want me to do?” Allura asked. The confusion was evident on her face.

“Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the astral plane than the Avatar herself?” the old man said. “You are the great bridge between man and spirits.”

Allura paused. “Right.”

“Hey, great bridge, can I talk to you for a second?” Pidge hissed. Allura nodded, and the two walked to the corner.

Allura and Pidge stood in silence for a moment before Pidge spoke. “Allura, you don’t sound too sure about this.”

“Yes, because I don’t know anything about the astral plane,” Allura sighed. “It’s not like anyone is available to teach me these things.”

“Then can you help these people?” Pidge asked. “Because if you can’t, they’re not going to take it too well when you admit that in the middle of battle.”

“I have to try, don’t I?” Allura took a deep breath. “Perhaps whatever I must do will simply… come to me.”

Pidge paused before nodding and trying for a smile. “I think you can do it.” They didn’t know a thing about spirits, but Allura was the Avatar, wasn’t she? The spirits would have to… respect her or something.

“Yeah,” Lance said, sliding into the conversation effortlessly. “We’re all going to get eaten by a spirit monster.”

…  


Shiro closed his eyes as the hot air rushed towards his face, moving the shock of white hair in a relaxing way and soothing his muscles. This was… a good idea. He needed this. It had been forever since Shiro got a chance to really…  _ relax. _

He had been through a lot in the past years, and everything had rushed by in a blur. Shiro might be twenty-four, but he had spent the past four years in exile with Keith, and two years before that fighting in the arena.

Shiro’s hair flopped back down on his face and he smiled, remembering when Keith was younger and had lovingly called it “floof”. Keith was… a lot different when he was younger. Happier. Calmer. Maybe a bit quieter. Then again, so was Shiro. Shiro used to be just another person living in Ba Sing Se. Life there had been slightly stressful, sure- he couldn’t let anyone know that he was a firebender. But it had been his. Before the Fire Nation had taken that all away from him.

Would Shiro take away the past six years of his life and trade them for something more peaceful? He had no idea. There was pain and suffering- but then, wasn’t that all life was? Pain? This life had also gifted him Keith. Keith, who was a firebending prince, but had adopted Shiro as his own brother and taken him from the arena. Keith, who had wanted one person from his old life after being exiled by his own father, and Shiro had been that person.

Was he still Takashi Shirogane? No. Shiro wasn’t that cheerful teenager anymore. He had changed, and the people around him had changed, too.

How had Shiro ended up here? How had Shiro gone from being a normal kid living in Ba Sing Se- or at least, normal as you could be while hiding a giant secret- to the Champion of the Fire Nation arena? And how had he gone from the Champion to being the only person Keith cared about in the world?

Sometimes, Shiro thought about the people he’d left behind. His earthbender mother, who had taken care of him for as long as she could. His firebender father, who had done his best to stay around despite being on the front lines of the invasion.

His parent’s love story could’ve been a classic story. Soldier and civilian fall in love during a war, have a son, the father dies, leaving the mother and son alone, and the mother loses even her son in the end. It was ridiculous to the point that nobody would have believed it really happened, but it did. Here was Shiro, living proof that it happened.

Shiro had inherited his father’s firebending, and had perfected it in the arena. Was that a good thing? It helped Keith on his journey. It had also been what convinced the soldiers to drag him away in the first place. He still remembered the fear he had felt, the people he had been shoved into a cart with. Matt and Sam Holt.

It still pained Shiro to remember Matt. They had had a whirlwind romance, once upon a time- they had known each other before they were taken away to the Fire Nation, and it had blossomed when they were the only people in the world. But Matt was gone. Most likely dead. And Shiro did nothing.

Shiro sighed, trying to loosen his muscles once again- they had tightened while he thought of the past. There was no point in dwelling on it. Shiro couldn’t change a thing, and he was  _ okay _ here. Maybe Shiro wasn’t loyal, but…

A rustling in the bushes shook him from his thoughts. Was he under attack? But… Shiro wanted to stay where he was. It had been  _ so long _ since he felt peace like this. Were his attackers really going to take everything from him? Again? Shiro had been dragged away once, and it wouldn’t happen again, especially now that he was worth something. Second in command of the disgraced prince of the Fire Nation. He wouldn’t face light judgment if he was caught.

The rustling suddenly stopped, and Shiro assumed it was an animal of some sort. In the back of his mind, he  _ knew _ that he should be worried about it, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He would get up soon, right?

The ground suddenly began to shake, startling Shiro from his calm. He tensed for battle, though he didn’t stand- he didn’t want to risk drawing attention if they had no idea he was there. Dust began to float towards him, dust that he knew was from earthbending. Shiro gritted his teeth and looked around cautiously. Where were they?

Shiro’s question was answered when rock suddenly surrounded him, trapping him in his place. Three earthbenders stood around him.

“That’s the Champion,” one said, leveling a glare at Shiro. “Bloodthirsty monster.”

Shiro flinched at the words. No, it wasn’t true. Arena Shiro, the Champion, had done what he had to in order to survive. That Shiro was gone. Shiro was different now, he wasn’t a monster!

Right?

…

Allura stared out at the village. The sky was rapidly darkening, and she knew that meant that the spirit would come soon. Hei Bai.

The doors of the safe building slammed shut behind her. Allura nearly jumped, but managed to keep from doing so with a show of great restraint. She couldn’t afford to be weak now. This was real. This was… something new.

This was something Allura didn’t know how to face.

She gripped her staff tightly and set her jaw. This would be fine. She could do this. Even if Allura had no idea what “this” meant, not yet at least. She began walking forward, looking around the village carefully. What did this spirit even look like, apart from being black and white?

“Hello? Hei Bai? Spirit? I am… the Avatar,” Allura called nervously.

…

From inside, Lance, Coran, and Pidge watched as Allura approached the outer wall of the village.

“This isn’t right,” Coran murmured.

“We can’t sit here and wait for a monster to show up,” Lance agreed.

“If anyone can save us, it is the Avatar,” the old man said. He was kind of getting on Lance’s nerves, him and the rest of the people in this village. Couldn’t they solve their own problems?

“She still shouldn’t have to face this alone,” Pidge said with a frown. The light reflected off their glasses hit Lance’s eye, and he squinted. “Can’t we do something?”

No one replied.

…

About ten minutes passed before the sun was nearly gone, the only remains being wispy purple clouds.

“The sun is set,” Allura said to herself. “Where is the spirit?”

She hesitated, wondering what she should do. What would the others do? Lance would probably challenge it to a fight, and that was no good. Pidge would psychoanalyze it to the point that it would want to run. Coran… Coran would probably try to reason with it. Allura should try that.

“Spirit,” she said awkwardly. “I humbly request that you leave this village in peace.” For emphasis and a bit of dramatic flare- Lance was rubbing off on her, wasn’t he?- Allura spun her staff and drove one end into the ground.

Nothing happened.

“Alright… well, I suppose that’s all?” Was that how it was supposed to go? Was the spirit gone? Allura had  _ no idea _ what she was doing. With a sigh, she pulled her staff from the ground and turned away, walking back to the safe building.

Rumbling suddenly shook the ground behind her, and the hair on her neck stood up straight.

Allura kept walking for a few paces before she froze. She turned to spot an enormous  _ monster _ , a four-legged beast with black and white spots all over. Allura craned her neck to see its nearly deformed-looking snout. She forced herself to be calm. “Hello. You must be the Hei Bai spirit. I am-”

She never got to finish her sentence. The spirit opened its mouth and let out a shriek, and blue mist surrounded Allura. It reared up and let out another, the blue mist filling the air.

Allura didn’t need to know a lot about spirits to know that this one was very, very angry.

It stepped past her and headed through the village. She tried to shout over the sound of its footsteps.

“I am Allura, I am the Avatar and I would like to help!” When the spirit didn’t react, she ran after it.

The spirit had already begun destroying buildings. It teleported between houses and shops, tearing down walls and roofs. The spirit destroyed a watchtower, and it would have collapsed, had it not let out that blue mist, which completely ruined the wood.

Allura had no idea what to do.

…

“The Avatar’s methods are…” the leader paused, and wood flew past the window they were watching from, “...unusual.”

“It doesn’t seem interested in what Allura is saying,” Pidge said. “Maybe we should go help her.”

“No, only the Avatar stands a chance against the Hei Bai,” the old man said.

“Allura will figure out the right thing to do,” Coran said reassuringly, although his tone didn’t reassure Pidge in the slightest.

…

“Will you please stop destroying things?” Allura cried. “Listen to me!”

It didn’t reply. Of course.

“I’m simply trying to do my duty as the bridge between human and spirit!” She leaped atop a building, staring down at the spirit pummeling yet another home. Deciding on a last-ditch effort, Allura shouted, “I command you to turn around now!”

One of Hei Bai’s massive black hooves kicked her across the village. Allura groaned as she slid down the roof of whatever building she had landed on.

…

“That’s it, she needs help!” Lance exclaimed, rushing for the door. Pidge followed close behind, but the leader managed to catch their wrist, holding them back.

“It’s not safe!”

Lance, of course, was already out the door, running for the spirit. “Hei Bai, over here!” He threw his trusty boomerang- if it could take out firebenders, it could take out a spirit- but it simply bounced off the spirit. He stared at it flatly for a moment before running forward.

“Lance, go back! You must stay safe!” Allura shouted.

“No! We’ll fight it together, Allura,” Lance said determinedly.

Allura’s eyes widened even further. “I don’t wish to fight it unless-” She stopped as Lance was tossed in the air by the spirit with a scream.

The spirit held onto Lance and ran down the path, out of the village. Allura frowned and followed into the darkness.

“Lance! Allura!” Pidge called, but their voice was too far away for either to hear them.

…

“Shiro!”

Keith fought past the plants  _ yet again- _ seriously, he would torch this forest if he had to do that  _ one more time- _ to find that the spot Shiro had once been in was empty. In his place were rocks that had  _ definitely _ not been there before.

“Earthbenders?” he murmured to himself with a frown.

“Sir, maybe he thought you left without him,” a soldier offered. Sometimes Keith wished he could see their faces, so he could figure out if these people were really serious or not, because a suggestion that stupid had to be a joke. Keith would  _ never _ leave Shiro. He complained about the man that he had adopted as his own brother, but he wouldn’t cut him off. Too many people had left Keith like that for him to do it to someone else.

“Something’s not right here,” Keith said. “Those rocks weren’t there before.”

“Landslide?” the other soldier offered.

“That’s not how a landslide works,” Keith muttered with a sigh. “It had to be earthbenders. This is free Earth Kingdom territory, isn’t it?” He directed a glare to both soldiers before they could say anything more idiotic. “Shiro’s been captured by earthbenders.”

…

Allura chased after Hei Bai. What would Pidge  _ do _ if she came back to them without Lance? No, that wouldn’t happen. Allura refused to think that way. She would get Lance, figure out this spirit thing, and they would leave this place.

She could hear Lance’s cries from up ahead. Knowing that one of her friends was in pain was something that Allura refused to stay calm over. The knowledge that she could lose another person she cared about was  _ not _ something Allura would ignore.

Allura boosted her speed with airbending, growing faster and faster until she was nearly parallel to Hei Bai.

“Allura! Help!” Lance cried upon seeing her. Allura gritted her teeth, trying to formulate a plan.

They kept running through the forest until the trees thinned out and the forest vanished, instead becoming the desolate ruins of the forest from earlier in the day. Allura continued chasing after Hei Bai. She got close enough to reach for Lance’s hand, but then it suddenly disappeared.

Hei Bai had disappeared, and Lance with it.

Allura’s steps faltered, and she tripped over herself and landed on the ground in a heap with a cry. What had just happened? Where did Lance and the spirit go? 

For a moment, everything faded to black, Allura still crumpled on the ground, but then her eyes snapped open. She pulled herself up off the dirt, reaching for her staff and standing, but was faced with a statue of a creature she didn’t know.

The statue was all done in wood, so it was impossible to make out colors, but when Allura looked closer at it, she found the word “cow” carved at the base. What did that mean? What was a “cow”?

Allura had no idea what to do. What did this statue have to do with Lance and Hei Bai’s disappearance? How did she get him back?  _ Could _ she get him back?

“I failed,” she murmured to herself.

…

Shiro hated this. Absolutely hated this. After the arena, he had made a resolution not to  _ hate _ anything again. He didn’t want to turn into the horrible monster he had become as the Champion. But this? Sitting tied up on the back of… what were these, again? It had been too long since he had last seen one. Years in the arena and time spent with Keith outside of most of the Earth Kingdom had kept him from seeing the animals of these soldiers that had once featured in Shiro’s everyday life.

“Where are you taking me?” Shiro tried asking.

“We’re taking you to face justice,” one of the soldiers said firmly. Did he really not know that Shiro used to be one of them?

Shiro’s allegiance was a little all over the place, sure. But did they really not think that maybe a guy who had been a prisoner-gladiator in the Fire Nation wasn’t all that evil? Even with firebending? These guys really needed to  _ think. _ Shiro was absolutely exhausted of fighting.

“Right... “ he said. “But where, specifically?”

The soldier on the same animal as him shot Shiro a glare. “A place your  _ empire _ is practically in love with. Ba Sing Se.”

Shiro sucked in a breath. They were taking him back? How had his home changed over the years? The hair on his arms stood up straight. But on the other hand… he was a prisoner. And a known firebender. He wasn’t just  _ going home. _ He needed some sort of idea. Did he have something that Keith would know as his?

He faked a yawn and leaned into the back of the soldier in front of him. Hoping that would distract them enough, Shiro quickly brought his hands together and peeled off his glove. It fell on the ground, and the woods were dark enough for none of them to notice it.

“You’re not allowed to sleep,” a soldier growled at him. Shiro sat up straight again and blinked rapidly as if he was tired. He didn’t complain. Shiro never  _ really _ slept. But a small, conspiratorial smile crept onto his face.

…

Pidge sat at the village gates. They stared out into the darkness, silently hoping, silently  _ begging, _ that Lance and Allura would come back. They needed their brother, and they needed… whatever Allura was to them. Allura would save Lance. She  _ had to. _

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Coran attempted to reassure them, resting a hand on their shoulder.

Pidge looked up at him, his face unusually stony. He wasn’t sure if they would come back, either. Spirits were something that no one really understood. It was easy to see something bad happening to Lance and Allura.

“I hope so,” they whispered, burying their face in their knees.

Pidge didn’t really know if they would be fine or not.

“You should get some rest,” Coran said gently. He put Lance’s  _ stupid _ jacket over them, and Pidge drew it closer. They hated that jacket. It had no purpose. But it was Lance’s, so they put aside those thoughts in favor of comforting themselves with Lance’s faint scent. “Lance is in good hands. Allura knows what she’s doing.”

Pidge shrugged and turned away from the woods to look at Coran. He tried for a smile, but it was small and looked like it was about to break.

That was how Pidge felt at that moment.

…  


Allura felt guilty. So guilty. She walked out of the woods, without answers, without peace from the spirit, and most importantly, without Lance. She stepped towards Pidge and Coran, and the guilt only increased at Coran’s words.

“Allura knows what she’s doing.”

_ No, I don’t, _ she thought. Allura didn’t want to tell Pidge that she came back without their brother. She didn’t want to tell these people that she had failed. She, the  _ Avatar, _ the most powerful person ever, had been unable to save this tiny village.

Allura had  _ no idea _ what she was doing.

“Pidge,” she began heavily, “Pidge, I lost him.” Allura looked up at Pidge to gauge their reaction, but they didn’t move. Were they really that angry? In shock? She stepped closer to where Pidge and Coran sat. The rising sun cast dark shadows on their faces.

“The sun is rising,” Coran observed. “Perhaps Allura will return soon.”

Allura stared at Coran, filled with confusion. ‘What? No, I’m right here.” Did they not see her? What the quiznak was going on? She waved her hand in front of Coran’s face, but he barely blinked.

She looked at her hand for a moment, but her stomach dropped when she realized that when it was held up to the light, she could barely see it. Allura gazed at it for a moment, wide-eyed and utterly confused.

It took a tick, but when the realization hit her, it hit her  _ hard. _

“I’m in the astral plane,” she gasped.

…

Keith walked down the trail wearily. Where were they  _ taking _ Shiro? None of the paths in the area were on any maps that they had, so he was just following blindly. He squinted into the morning sunlight as they rounded a bend. Did he imagine it, or was that…?

His steps quickened as he walked towards the dark object in the middle of the path. Small. Unnatural. Not meant to be there. When Keith got close enough, he scooped it up with a sense of success. It was Shiro’s glove. Keith would know; his own gloves had been fashioned after Shiro’s.

“This is his,” Keith said firmly to himself. He looked back at where his soldiers had fallen behind- if any of them were still around. Keith wasn’t blind. He knew their loyalty was to the Fire Nation, not to him. But at least without anyone around to get in his way, he would get this done much faster.

Keith broke out into a jog down the path, reassured that the man he called his brother was still out there, waiting for him.

…

Allura wondered if this was creepy. It was quite creepy ten thousand years ago, but maybe things had changed? Surely people had progressed past that point? Allura knew that there was almost no chance things had changed- but Allura herself must have, was that a hint of  _ Slav?- _ so this was probably just as creepy now as it had been ten thousand years ago, but it was okay. Pidge probably wouldn’t ever know, and they would understand. They were smart like that.

But Allura definitely felt guilty watching Pidge sleep, even though she didn’t really have a choice. It was pretty much the same as watching Pidge awake now since she was in the spirit world.

That wasn’t all that much better, was it?

She sighed. Allura wished she wasn’t sitting a meter in the air thanks to some spirit magic, watching the person she had come to appreciate as a good friend, possibly more, in their sleep, but there she was. Sitting a meter in the air thanks to some spirit magic. Watching Pidge in their sleep.

The guilty monologue was getting ridiculous at that point, even in Allura’s own mind.

“We will figure this out, Pidge. I promise.” Pidge, of course, didn’t respond. Allura pretended like they did. “Like they told us, I am the bridge between worlds. All I need to do is… find out what I need to do.”

Incredible wordsmith, Allura was. She internally groaned.

“Once I do that, there’s no problem! We’ll all be fine. You, Lance, the villagers…” She trailed off with a sigh. This was pointless.

Voltron, who had previously been dozing in the shade, stood and stretched. It amused Lance and Pidge to no end to see the winged lion do that, and that fascinated Allura. What was so different about Voltron stretching that made the adopted siblings become excited?

She shook those thoughts away. They were unnecessary. She needed to be able to get Lance back, and thinking of nice memories wasn’t fixing her idea-less mind.

“Hello, Voltron,” Allura murmured, even though she knew that Voltron couldn’t see her, either. She watched the lion glance around as if she was searching for something. That made Allura feel even worse. “I’m right here.”

It was painful to see Voltron let out a soft snort and flop back down on the ground, close enough to Pidge to radiate warmth. Spirits couldn’t do that.

Voltron let out a soft rumble, which woke Pidge. They looked up at the winged lion with a soft expression on their face. “It’ll be okay, Voltron. They’ll probably be back soon.” After a moment, Pidge’s face soured, and Allura wondered why. Pidge reached out and threaded their fingers through Voltron’s fur softly.

Allura couldn’t let Pidge’s words be lies. But  _ how? _ She had no clue on anything related to spirits. But there had to be an answer, somehow. There had to be a solution. All problems had solutions. And Allura was the  _ Avatar. _ She was the most powerful solution the world had to offer.

She watched as Pidge and Voltron walked into the village. They disappeared behind the wall.

Allura felt so helpless.

“What am I supposed to do…?” she whispered to herself. Allura looked back at the forest. Tears pricked at her eyes. She needed advice. She needed to talk to someone that knew what they were doing. “Avatar Alfor!” she cried out, knowing full well that no matter how loud she shouted, nothing in the living world would ever hear. “How can I talk to you?”

There was no response. Allura stared up at the sky for a moment, then turned away. She wiped the tears off her face. She glanced back at the forest, then gasped. “Lance?”

A single white light in the shape of a diamond appeared in the dark shadows of the trees. It flashed brightly, almost like it was beckoning her. She took a step closer, and her vision flooded with the light. An image of an animal appeared to be in the distance, flying towards Allura.

_ Alfor…? _

In a confused panic, Allura attempted to airbending, but discovered she couldn’t. She tried again. Nothing. “What? I can’t airbend in the astral plane!” she realized.

The creature was getting larger, so close that Allura felt as if she could reach out and touch it. Was it Alfor? What did it want? Was that a dragon?

It twisted around in the air in front of Allura. It released a rumbling noise that sounded like a growl as it spun in the air, massive. Allura’s heart was in her throat. Her breathing was fast. She tightened her stance in an attempt to regain some control once it landed.

The creature was, in fact, a dragon. It was difficult to tell, but Allura thought it might’ve been red. It loomed over Allura with a threatening snarl.

“Can you tell me where Lance is?” she asked the dragon nervously, silently hating the tremor in her voice.

The dragon’s face grew closer, and it reached out with a paw-like talon. Allura’s eyes widened as its claws drew closer and closer until…

The world exploded into light.

A figure on the dragon soared towards her.

His face.

His face-

Then it vanished, leaving Allura disoriented for a moment before she gathered herself.

“You’re Avatar Alfor’s animal guide,” she realized. “The way Voltron is mine. I… I must save my friend and I don’t know how.”

The dragon lifted its head away from her, and it curled up slightly like it was surprised or almost offended. Allura didn’t know how to react to that.

“Is there some way for me to speak to Alfor?” Allura tried. At that, the dragon reached back down to her. It went past her though, unfolding its long body and soaring past her. It curled around on her other side with an almost smug expression.

It was an offer, Allura knew. This dragon would take her where she needed to go.

Allura took a deep breath, then stepped towards the dragon. She leaped onto its back- or neck? She wasn’t quite sure- and held onto the fur-like mane on the dragon’s neck.

“I’ll be back, Pidge,” she murmured.

The dragon lifted its head and stilled like it was waiting for something.

“Take me to Alfor,” Allura said firmly, and she got the strange feeling the dragon was smiling at her. It coiled up for a tick before launching itself into the sky.

…

Shiro was actually tired, for the first time in years. He vaguely wondered if Keith was this tired when Shiro told him to rest, or if he was actually wide awake. But faced with this sort of exhaustion, with life in general, Shiro wished he had actually slept all of those times he claimed he was going to bed.

He almost leaned on the soldier again, but decided the humiliation wasn’t worth it. Keith would be there soon, right? Come to save him from the slow gait of the animal he still didn’t know the name of, and the small-talk and jabs of the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

At least the Fire Nation soldiers just got straight to the point, no wandering off. How long had it been? They had to be close, right? It felt like Shiro had been sitting there forever.

He tried to lean around the soldier in front of him to get a good look at the path ahead, then gasped. A vaguely red figure soared towards him, a figure he knew to be the Red Spirit. The animal-guide-turned-legend after hundreds of years without a new Avatar.

Shiro distantly wondered if she was coming for Keith. They had always seemed alike. Fire.

She soared past him, and he realized that there was someone on her back. The Avatar? What was she doing in the astral plane?

Then Shiro remembered what day it was.

He watched her go with a half-hearted attempt to be subtle. One of the soldiers gave him a look.

“What’s the problem?”

Shiro hesitated for a moment before responding. “Nothing…” How could he distract them from that? If anyone knew he could see spirits, he’d be done for. “Actually, there is a bit of a problem. My joints are feeling sore and achy, and these shackles aren’t really helping…” Actually, this was a plan. A fairly good one, at that. If he could trick them into believing it. “They’re too loose.”

The soldiers all stared at him for a moment in confusion before responding.

“Too loose?”

Shiro nodded brightly, hoping he was really selling it. “That’s right.” He lifted his hands off his legs and shook the chains, making a loud clinking noise. “They jangle around and bump my wrists.”

That was probably the most idiotic thing Shiro had ever said. He was kind of disappointed in himself, but it was too late to go back. These people didn’t even know him beyond his title anyway, so it wasn’t like they would go and mock him.

Although the Earth Kingdom gossips getting a hold of that nice piece of false information wasn’t all that great of an idea either.  _ The Champion is practically an old man, I heard he complained about his chains being too loose and hurting his joints! He has that white hair, right? _

Shiro wasn’t ready to be old. Keith would never let him hear the end of it.

Keith.

That brought him back to reality. “It would help me if you would tighten them, so they wouldn’t shake around so much.” He offered a strained smile.

The soldiers stared at him again for less time than before.

“Very well,” one said. “Corporal? Tighten the prisoner’s handcuffs.”

That phrase brought back memories Shiro wasn’t ready to face again, despite how much people loved to remind him of them.

The creatures stopped walking,  _ finally, _ and set down on the ground in a lopsided circle. The soldier in front of Shiro slipped out of the saddle and stood in front of Shiro.

Shiro took a deep breath in, remembering those words he had spoken to Keith not so long ago, and released it. Flames burst out and heated up the metal of the chains and he clapped the soldier’s hand onto it. The man let out a strangled yell. He fell down to the ground.

Shiro closed his eyes briefly before he jumped off the creature’s back and began blasting flames at the other soldiers despite still being chained. A burst of fire at the feet of two creatures made them rear back in fear and threw their riders off. With a sufficient distraction created, Shiro dropped to the ground and rolled off the path, which led to him dropping from a small cliff.

That would hurt later.

…

Allura watched as a smoking, active volcano on a rough, mountainous island came into view. Was that their destination?

The dragon- Allura had learned that the dragon was also known as the Red Spirit, and that she was female- guided them down towards a building halfway between a stone mountain and the rivers of lava that flowed from the volcano.

What briefly threw Allura off was that this was… in the Fire Nation? Weren’t they enemies? But she was reminded of the fact that Avatar Alfor was Fire Nation, too, which made everything make much more sense.

The building was obviously Fire Nation, built with various shades of red from almost orange to purple. Allura got the impression that this building was very important.

The dragon flew quickly in through the door-less entrance and spiraled upwards, up and up and up until they were nearly at the top of the building. Unfortunately, there was a ceiling in the way. Even if she was in the astral plane, Allura didn’t think she could go through ceilings.

“What are you doing?” Allura cried out, tightening her grip on the fur of the dragon. She let out a shriek as they grew closer and closer. Allura had enough time to think,  _ what a nice ceiling, with the circular designs and everything, _ before they passed through. Her stomach dropped. It felt like she had fallen flat on her face a dozen times. But… Allura was alive, or at least as alive as a spirit can be. Not a smear on the nice ceiling of the building.

Because there was another level on the other side.

The Red Spirit settled down on the floor with a snarl that Allura had begun to associate with pride. Allura couldn’t even begin to understand how Avatar Alfor had ever managed to tame that beast.

She slid off of the dragon wearily. In front of her was a design shaped like flame, with a statue of Avatar Alfor in the center. Allura walked toward it.

“I don’t understand,” she said, stopping in front of the statue. “This is simply a statue of Alfor.” She frowned at it before turning back to the dragon, who was watching her sternly.

The claws reached out towards her again, and the light flashed once more. An image of a comet filled Allura’s vision. What did that mean? “Is that what Alfor wants to talk to me about? A comet?”

She turned back to the statue before glancing back at the Red Spirit. “When can I talk to him?”

The dragon rumbled as she moved her head, revealing a beam of light. It ended just to the side of Alfor’s face. The dragon’s claws met Allura once again.

It was like she was seeing time go by as she watched the sky lighten and darken. It happened several times. Then there was an image of what might’ve been a calendar. A light flashed, over and over again- the light in the very room they were in, Allura realized, as the statue was revealed. The light flashed over and over, growing closer to the statue each time. The light met the statue when Allura returned to herself.

Allura looked down to the floor, recognizing the circle below her as the very same one in the vision, then up at the statue. “It’s a calendar! The light will reach Alfor on the solstice!” She turned back to the dragon. “So that’s when I’ll be able to speak to Alfor?”

The Red Spirit let out a growl that Allura interpreted as a “yes”.

“But I can’t wait that long,” Allura worried when reality reminded her of Lance, Pidge, and the village. “I must save Lance now!”

…

The dragon flew her back quickly.

…

This was  _ definitely _ going to hurt. Each roll made Shiro feel more pain, which he supposed he should have expected. He heard the earthbenders start to go after him. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone? Shiro was exhausted and wanted to go back to the comfort of the boat he had lived on for four years, the comfort of Keith around, all of the nice things he didn’t have waiting for him back in the Earth Kingdom.

A cloud of sand and rock suddenly engulfed Shiro, and he thought quickly before letting it take him. The soldiers quickly surrounded him.

“He’s too dangerous, captain,” one of the soldiers said, gesturing wildly at Shiro. “We can’t just carry him to the capital! We have to do something,  _ now. _ ”

“I agree,” another said. “He must be dealt with immediately and severely.”

Shiro really did not want to be part of this.

…

Pidge let the wind whip through their short, choppy hair. They had been flying Voltron for hours, searching for some sign of Allura or their brother, but there was  _ nothing. _ Pidge had no idea where they were, or even where they could be. They knew nothing about spirits.  _ Why _ hadn’t they listened to more stories from Lance’s grandmother?

They sighed and stroked Voltron’s fur softly. “I guess it’s pointless, huh? There’s nothing out here, I guess. At this point, we’ve got to go back to the village and  _ wait.” _

Pidge hated waiting. They had waited. They had waited for their brother and father to come home. They had waited for their mother to love them. They had waited instead of doing something,  _ anything _ remotely useful. Pidge couldn’t bend. Pidge could barely fight. Pidge was  _ too young, _ people always said, too young for anything like this to have happened to them.

But there they were.

Waiting for Lance and Allura to come back.

Would it be like the last time Pidge had waited?

…

Keith  _ was _ looking down at the tracks. He swears he was doing something useful. He was looking for Shiro. But then he heard the roar of the flying lion, and everything stopped.

Keith glanced back to see it flying through the sky, with all the grace of something that knew it had already won. He scowled at the thought. He  _ would _ capture the Avatar.

He  _ had to. _

So that was why he turned around and almost began following the lion until he hesitated. Shiro. He couldn’t just…  _ leave  _ Shiro. Keith had promised he wouldn’t let Shiro die, but… the Avatar. Home.  _ Escape _ from all of this. No reason to be looking for Shiro somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, because they would be safe and in the right place.

Keith looked back at where the winged lion was soaring away. Soon it would be out of reach unless he followed it.

Then back to the path.

…  


Allura soon found herself where it had all begun- the burnt part of the forest. Where it was dead. But, like Pidge had shown her, there were acorns. It would all be okay.

She just needed to find Lance.

The dragon sped forward, and Allura gasped as she saw the strange statue from before ahead… along with her body on top of it. She let out a very complicated yell before she opened her eyes and found herself back in the real world.

Allura jumped off the statue of the “cow” with some relief to be back on her own feet. She looked at the statue, trying to understand. Trying to solve the grand mystery.

When she finally figured it out, she let a small, grim smile spread over her face, then turned and headed back to the village. Allura finally knew what to do.

…

Pidge looked out into the sunset with an absolutely ridiculous mournful face, they were sure, when they heard it. Footsteps.

Their eyes widened as they saw Allura running towards them. No Lance, but Pidge could work with that because  _ Allura was back. _ And that had to mean something, after almost a day without her.

“You’re back!” Pidge exclaimed in a rare show of emotions and ran up to Allura. It was easy to wrap their arms around her in a nice hug. It felt nice, it really did. Pidge hated to break it up, but they did with a step back.

Pidge was pleased to note the barely-there dusting of pink on Allura’s cheeks.

“Where’s Lance?” they asked, although they could have guessed the answer from Allura’s face.

“I’m not sure,” Allura said. She bowed her head sorrowfully.

The sun finally set, leaving them in near-darkness.

…

“These dangerous hands…” the soldier paused. “This dangerous hand must be crushed.”

Shiro didn’t actually have any idea which hand he was referring to. They were both equally dangerous, and they  _ had _ to know that the Fire Nation was capable of replacing limbs.

He just tiredly hoped that Keith would find him soon. This plan wasn’t working out so well, with Shiro now tied to a rock rather than himself, his hands across the more-or-less flat top.

The soldier used earthbending to bring up a large rock- so he was doing both, then?- and hovered it over Shiro’s hands for a moment before it started to drop.

But the pain never came.

Keith appeared, kicking the rock out of the way before breaking Shiro’s chains with another powerful kick. When had Keith gotten so strong? Or… had he always been that strong? Everything was kind of blurring together.

Shiro really needed a break, didn’t he?

Shiro got up with a small grin. He didn’t get any pleasure from hurting people, but it had been a long day, and he needed to stretch his limbs. Besides, these people had been about to crush his hands… hand? And they deserved a good fight.

Keith and Shiro stood back-to-back, both prepared to fight as they faced the Earth Kingdom soldiers.

“Surrender yourselves,” a soldier ordered. “It’s five against two. You’re clearly outnumbered.” The smile on that man’s face was terrifying enough to send adrenaline coursing through Shiro’s veins.

“That’s true, but you’re clearly outmatched,” Shiro said firmly.

The soldiers sent rocks flying towards the two. Shiro broke them with his metal arm while Keith focused on taking down the soldiers with his firebending. It didn’t take long- these soldiers were clearly less experienced fighters than Keith and Shiro- but Shiro noticed a rock hurtling towards Keith’s head while he was distracted.

Finally ready to save Keith instead of getting saved, Shiro broke the rock before it could even get near Keith, who spun around at the noise. Together, they sent a powerful blast of flames at the two soldiers standing there.

One soldier threw rocks at them rapidly, which they both dodged. Shiro and Keith broke away from each other to throw him off. Keith took over the fight, shooting flames in the man’s face. He dodged, and Keith only sent more.

The soldier then brought up two towers of mud and earth, meeting high in the air. Shiro and Keith both gasped.

But Shiro had fought enemies like that in the arena. He knew what to do. He got behind the soldier, who was distracted by Keith and his own earthbending, and swept the soldier’s legs from underneath himself.

The rocks fell down onto the soldier, leaving Shiro and Keith the only ones left on the battlefield. Shiro turned to Keith with a smile, and was unbelievably happy when Keith returned it. He clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder gently and hoped that he knew Shiro was  _ proud. _

…

Allura found herself in front of the village gates with a darkening sky once again. But this time, she had a plan. She knew what to do.

Hopefully.

After a while of waiting, she turned away. Hei Bai- or rather, a spirit that went by a name Allura didn’t know- had only appeared when she wasn’t watching. Maybe it would show up if she pretended to give up.

So Allura walked slowly through the village. The wind whipped through her hair. The windchimes scattered around the village made pleasant, if eerie, music. The brief quiet lasted for a moment before the house she was walking next to practically exploded with a shake of the ground.

The spirit tore out of the building with a roar and began forming the blue mist-like attack. The debris from the house fell towards Allura, and she formed a protective shell around herself with airbending.

“Allura! What’re you doing?” someone shouted from inside, barely audible from the sphere of wind and the crashing of wood. “Run!”

The spirit brought back in the blue mist and teleported to the front of the safe building. All of the villagers were in there. Allura couldn’t let the spirit hurt them. So she ran for the spirit and jumped over it, boosting herself with wind to land on its head. She pressed her hand to the center of its forehead.

A blue glow appeared around where her hand lay on the spirit’s fur, and it brightened until Allura pulled away. She watched with wide eyes as an image of a cow briefly overlayed the spirit. So she was right. This wasn’t the spirit’s true form after all.

“You’re the spirit of this forest,” Allura said calmly, staring straight into the eyes of the spirit. “Now I understand. You’re upset and angry because your home was destroyed.” She closed her eyes briefly as she thought of the Southern Air Temple. “When I saw the forest had burned, I was sad and upset, but my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back someday.” She smiled softly and held up an acorn she had stashed in her pocket.

The spirit followed her movements as she set the acorn down on the ground between them. It bowed its head and picked it up with its teeth. As it turned around, it shifted into the cow from before, and it peacefully walked out of the village, until it disappeared with a flash of light. In its place appeared the missing people- including Lance.

Her friends and the villagers ran out of the safe building to embrace their missing people. Pidge tackled Lance and hugged him tightly.

“Never do that again, idiot,” Pidge said, while Lance only gave a small laugh and hugged them back.

...

“Thank you, Avatar Allura,” the village leader said. “My people and I appreciate all you have done for us.”

Allura smiled and nodded. “Thank you for allowing me to help.”

“If only there were a way to repay you for all you’ve done,” the village leader added.

“You could give us some supplies,” Lance offered. “And some money.”

Pidge elbowed him roughly with a hissed, “Lance!”

“What? We need stuff!”

“Young Lance is correct, for once!” Coran added cheerfully.

The village leader only smiled. “It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey.” He walked away.

Pidge turned to Allura. “Thank you, Allura. Seriously. Thank you for bringing my brother, however idiotic he is, back to me.”

Allura’s smile turned into a grin. “I actually had some help…” Her mood turned more serious. “And there’s something else.”

The comet appeared in her vision once again.

“What is it?” Lance asked.

“I must speak with Alfor, and I believe I’ve found a way to contact him,” Allura explained.

“That’s great!” Pidge exclaimed.

“Creepy,” Lance added, “but great.”

Coran nodded his agreement. “You’ll be mastering all four elements yet, Allura!”

“There’s a temple on a crescent-shaped island,” Allura said. “And if I go there on the solstice, I will be able to speak with him.”

Pidge’s eyebrow raised. “But the solstice is tomorrow, correct?”

“Yes,” Allura said. “And there’s one more thing.” She looked away. Was there any better way to phrase this? No, and there was no point in sugarcoating it. “But the island is in the Fire Nation.”

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, the spirit's real name is not hei bai, it's kalternecker.  
> i'm so sorry.
> 
> also, sorry for not updating in a while! family and stuff got in the way of my writing.  
> (along with the fact that this is almost thirty pages and makes it the longest chapter so far? like, so much stuff happened in that episode? i kept thinking "there's five minutes left, can't be much more to say" but unfortunately, no. this chapter was probably way too wordy, but there's my apology chapter for taking forever to update.)
> 
> thank you for reading! the next episode, as far as i can remember, was a lot too, so don't expect it too soon, but it'll be faster than this one.)
> 
> :)


	8. Avatar Alfor (Winter Solstice, Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lots of things happen.
> 
> there are some things to think about, aren't there?
> 
> for all of them.

“Let’s  _ go, _ Voltron, come on!”

Allura continued pulling on the reins, even as the winged lion let out a snort. She very clearly did  _ not _ want to move. But they needed to get to the Fire Nation and talk to Avatar Alfor by tomorrow night! Less than twenty-four hours away! She couldn’t just  _ wait _ until Voltron felt like flying.

“Voltron, I’m sorry, but Pidge, Lance, and Coran aren’t coming with us,” Allura told her with a note of regret. If she had to ability to fly there on the Red Spirit whenever she wanted, she  _ would, _ but things did not turn out that way. Her friends hadn’t wanted her to risk it yet- but they didn’t understand.  _ They _ hadn’t ever been the Avatar. They had wanted to remain safe and continue on their journey, and who was Allura to argue with them? “I don’t want them to get hurt because of me.”

She was quiet for a moment before tightening her stance and shouting, “So get  _ up, _ you lazy lump, and let’s go!” Allura pulled on the reins with all her strength, but ended up falling to the ground when they couldn’t be stretched any further- and Voltron definitely wasn’t moving.

Allura sat on the ground in silence. Great. How could she possibly get there now? Would she be able to call the Red Spirit back? But the dragon hadn’t liked her all that much- Allura got the distinct feeling that she had something against the airbender. So, no, if Allura could fly Voltron there, then she  _ would. _

She jolted upright as she suddenly heard a voice.

“I think that lazy lump is trying to tell you something.” Lance.

Alura turned to see her three friends watching her with wide eyes. Of course they would try to stop her. How could she make them  _ understand? _

“Please don’t go, Allura,” Pidge said with a sigh. “We need you. We can’t afford to lose you to the Fire Nation.”

“Perhaps you’ll have another chance to communicate with Avatar Alfor?” Coran suggested.

Allura hesitated and looked away guiltily. They didn’t get it. They didn’t understand just how  _ lost _ she was. Surely the past few weeks had proved that to them? Allura could only airbend, apart from her small talent in waterbending. She didn’t understand what the world was like anymore. Her entire civilization, everything she had ever known, was destroyed. She didn’t understand anything on the spiritual side of being the Avatar.

The vision of the comet flooded her mind again, reminding her that this could help  _ stop Zarkon. _

“But I have to talk to Avatar Alfor!” Allura insisted desperately. Why couldn’t they just  _ accept it? _ Yes, they provided valid arguments, but they weren’t enough to discourage her from going. Her reason was for the long-term greater good. It would benefit them later on, and Allura would only be putting herself in harm’s way. Surely they could see it from her perspective- what should be all of their perspectives? “I must find out what my vision means, and in order to do that I need to reach the temple before the sun sets tomorrow!”

She jumped up onto Voltron’s back and picked up the reins once more. Surely the lion would see sense now? Allura looked back briefly but forced herself to turn away. Voltron took a few steps forward before Pidge, Lance, and Coran ran out in front of her.

“We’re not letting you go to the Fire Nation, Allura,” Pidge said.

“At least, not without us,” Lance continued with a grin. “We got your back.”

Allura stared at them quizzically, confused by the sudden change in opinion. She watched as Voltron licked Lance.

“ _ Ew!” _ he squeaked, and Allura broke out into a smile.

The village leader approached Allura. “It’s a long journey to the Crescent Island,” they said and held out a package. “You’ll have to fly fast to have any chance of making it before sundown.” They gave a grave smile. “Good luck.”

Allura smiled back at them. “Thank you for your-”

“Go!”

Pidge, Lance, and Coran scrambled quickly onto Voltron’s back, and they quickly took off, the feeling of wind familiar by now.

It was time to put themselves to the test- or they wouldn’t be able to make it.

...

The village leader exhaustedly opened the door to take one last look at what remained of it before they finally let themselves go to bed. They sighed and closed their eyes as they pushed it open, hummed a tune their mother once did, before opening their eyes and meeting the stormy purple eyes of a firebender.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

The boy pushed the leader onto the ground, and they stared up at him in a haze of pain, confusion, and exhaustion.

“Seen the Avatar lately?”

…

The sun rose that morning while they were on the open ocean.

Hours past as they flew over the deep blue waves. They were beautiful. The ocean near the South Pole was cold, dark, and unforgiving, while these waters appeared warm and inviting. Lance half-wished he could jump in. He  _ could, _ really, and not be soaking wet for the next few hours, but he didn’t feel like it. It had been a long night- a long few days, really. Being captured by a rogue spirit wasn’t exactly his idea of a vacation.

“Come on, Voltron,” Allura groaned as she flopped back. “You must fly faster. We need to reach the Fire Nation  _ tonight.” _

The lion only growled. Maybe her wings beat a little faster? But maybe not.

…

“Sailing into Fire Nation waters,” Shiro murmured from behind Keith. Keith’s gaze was fixed in the telescope, which was trained on the Avatar’s lion. He barely even reacted to Shiro’s words. “Of all the foolish things you’ve done in your lifetime, this has to be the worst.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Keith said curtly.

“Have you completely forgotten that the Emperor  _ banished you?” _ Shiro demanded angrily. How could Keith be so reckless? Why was he throwing everything away for… this? He would have infinite chances to capture the Avatar! He had a million different futures where he lived, happy, away from the Fire Kingdom! Why couldn’t he  _ see that? _ Shiro only wanted the best for Keith, and he hated seeing him suffer pointlessly. “What if you’re caught?”

Keith whipped around aggressively. “I’m chasing the  _ Avatar, _ Shiro! My father will understand why I’m returning!” He balled his hands into fists and locked eyes with Shiro. That flame, hidden behind the violet of his mother’s eyes, burned with the passion of his father. Shiro didn’t like to see that flame.

“You give him too much credit, Keith. Emperor Zarkon is not someone you want to cross!”

The prince hesitated, and his gaze wavered for a moment before he turned back around and watched the Avatar’s winged lion once again. “Helmsman, full speed ahead.”

_ Oh, Keith… _

…

Lance had to do a double-take when he saw the familiar Fire Nation ship.

“They’re following us!” Pidge shouted to Allura.

“And they’re gaining fast!” Coran added anxiously.

…

The cannons rose up from the belly of the ship, a steaming cannonball already prepared to fire.

“Really, Keith,” Shiro sighed. “Couldn’t you shoot them down with something less likely to kill us if we make a mistake?”

Keith shot Shiro a look and turned to the cannon. He blasted fire onto it, making an even more deadly weapon. “On my mark.”

The soldier next to the rope shifted into a battle stance, and at Keith’s call of “Fire!”, the rope was cut and the cannonball was sent hurtling towards the Avatar and her companions.

…

“Fireball!” Pidge shouted, twisting her head to look back at Allura desperately.

Allura gave a determined nod and jerked the reins to the right. “I’m on it!"

“We must exit Prince Keith’s range before he hits us!” Coran exclaimed as they flew into a mostly dry cloud.

“Can’t Voltron go any faster?” Lance cried.

“Yes,” Allura said, then glanced down at the half-visible water below and gasped. “But there’s one issue!”

…

_ “A blockade.” _

Both the Avatar and the firebenders found themselves heading towards a battle neither wanted to happen.

“Technically, you’re still in Earth Kingdom waters,” Shiro commented, stroking a hand through his hair exhaustedly. “Turn back now and they can’t arrest us.”

Keith looked off to the side.

…

“If we fly north now, we can avoid the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade!” Pidge said. They looked around at their teammates. “It’s the only way.”

But if they did that, then they might not be able to reach Avatar Alfor in time.

“There’s no time!” Allura objected. “This is why I hoped you wouldn’t come- it’s far too dangerous!”

“That’s exactly why we’re here,” Pidge said, their eyes meeting Allura’s.

“Let’s run this blockade,” Lance said firmly, a grin on his face.

“We can do this,” Coran added, although his voice had lost much of its usual cheer.

Allura nodded and tore her gaze away from Pidge’s. “Go, Voltron!”

The winged lion let out a growl of affirmation, and she sped up, her wings beating faster than ever before.

…

“They’re not turning back!” Keith exclaimed.

“But  _ we _ have to,” Shiro said urgently. “Listen, Keith. If the Fire Nation captures you- if the Fire Nation captures  _ us, _ there’s nothing we can do! You’ll be imprisoned for at least as many years as you’ve been away, and I-” His voice broke. “I’ll go back to the arena. You understand, Keith? We can’t afford to take this risk!”

Keith’s determination faltered, and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. “I’m sorry, Shiro.” After barely half a second, he turned back to his soldiers and shouted, “Run the blockade!”

…

“The Avatar,” he said, then shifted the telescope down. “And the banished prince.” Sendak grinned and dropped the telescope. “This must be my lucky day.”

“Commander Sendak,” Haxus said from behind him. “What are your orders?”

There was no hesitation in his voice. “Shoot the lion down.”

“But there’s a Fire Navy ship out there, Commander! One of our own!” Haxus exclaimed. “What if it’s hit?”

“So be it,” Sendak said, lifting his head. “It belongs to a traitor.” He moved his gaze to the cannons nearby. “Ignite!”

The projectiles were lit on fire and at Sendak’s order of “Launch!”, they flew into the sky, creating a barrier of flaming rocks bearing down on both the Avatar and the Prince’s ship.

The winged lion swerved left and right to avoid the projectiles, and although it didn’t escape without a hit, it managed to fly away into the clouds. The Avatar was out of sight- but not gone. Not yet. They could still win this battle.

…

The heavy cannonballs crashed into the water around the boat, creating waves that made it nearly impossible to get away. But then- something that Keith should have expected- one of them hit the boat.

Keith held onto the railing tightly. Why did Sendak have to do this? What did Keith ever do to him? Yes, Keith knew, but did it really have to extend this far?

“Prince Keith! One of the engines was hit! We must stop and make repairs!” someone cried, and that shook Keith out of his temporary paralysis.

“Don’t stop this ship.”

…

All of them shrieked when they saw the cannonballs arching over the clouds, headed straight for them.

Allura pulled the reins as much as she could, and Voltron flew through the fire, but she flew through a blast that caused Lance to fly up in the air. Pidge and Coran reached for him, but he was too far away, and he fell, through the clouds, away from them.

“Lance!” Pidge cried.

Allura let out a yell as she turned Voltron into a quick nosedive, back down to the water and the Fire Nation ships. They swooped underneath Lance, who was screaming his head off as he fell.

Pidge reached out their hand and as soon as Lance was close enough, they grabbed onto Lance’s own hand. He fell back onto Voltron’s back just as they started skimming the water. A fish jumped out and hit him in the face.

“I won,” he muttered before grabbing onto the saddle tightly and watching as the ships ahead drew closer.

Another volley launched, and they swerved violently to avoid being hit. The closer they got, the less likely they were to be fired at again, unless the Fire Nation risked hitting their own ships. And once they got past the ships, they would be able to disappear into the distant cloud cover and reach the island.

“Fire!” Allura heard. She tensed, then launched herself off of Voltron. She spun in the air to twist her leg towards the cannonball, and she kicked out a powerful gust of wind. The air shattered the cannonball, and she fell back onto Voltron. They flew past the ships and found themselves freed.

“We’ve made it!” Coran exclaimed.

Lance and Pidge stared at each other with equally dumbfounded expressions.

“We got into the Fire Nation,” Lance said, sounding a little choked. “Great.”

…

“Where do you think the Avatar is headed, sir?”

Sendak frowned and turned away. “I’m not sure- but I bet a certain bastard would know.” He narrowed his gaze on Prince Keith’s ship, which steadily drew closer to the blockade.

…

Two ships began crossing in front of their own, beginning to narrow down the exit.

“We’re on a collision course!” Shiro exclaimed.

“We can make it!” Keith objected desperately.

…

“The boarding party is ready to apprehend Prince Keith, sir,” Haxus reported.

“Wait,” Sendak said, an idea forming in his mind. “Cut the engines and let them pass.”

“Sir?”

The ships both stopped, and the prince’s tiny ship passed through.

Sendak stared down at the deck of the boat, his eyes meeting the prince’s. The ship continued its course, and he gazed after them, his plan decided.

…

Quiet hours passed without any sort of change. They had all fallen asleep at some point, apart from Voltron- what kind of strength did that lion have, anyway?- but day turned to sunset, and when the clouds were painted red, they finally saw it.

“There it is! The island where the Red Spirit took me!”

Voltron swooped down to land, her proud purr making them feel like they were vibrating.

…

Lance stretched. When had he last felt land under his feet? Why did they have to end up somewhere halfway across the world? He suddenly understood why it wasn’t a good idea to do that for their journey to the North Pole. That was exhausting, and he wasn’t even the one flying!

But enough about that. He turned to face the temple up above. How were they going to do this? It was… crazy. At least when they would eventually fight Zarkon, and defeat the Fire Nation, Allura would actually know all four elements, and Lance would actually be able to waterbend. But right now? They had nothing.

Voltron flopped down on her side with a groan, and Pidge pet the lion’s soft fur with a smile on their face. “Aw, you must be tired.”

Lance snorted, but he was just happy to see them happy.

“I’ll be staying behind to make sure we’re ready to go if you come running from the temple like a group of wild klanmüirls were chasing you,” Coran said, taking a seat on the ground beside Voltron. “Don’t worry, I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”

Why did he have to say that? Hadn’t Air Nomads ever heard of  _ jinxing yourself? _

…

Pidge was so confused as to why they were walking through the front entrance of this place, but… okay. Maybe this was the only path? Maybe the people inside didn’t guard the temple? They really had no idea.

“I don’t see any guards,” Lance commented as they all hid behind the only thing left between them and the temple- a low wall, which they could easily jump over.

“The Fire Nation must’ve abandoned it when Avatar Alfor died,” Pidge offered. “They don’t seem like the type to be nostalgic.”

“It’s almost sundown,” Allura reminded them. “We’d best hurry.”

The group checked that the coast was clear before jumping over the wall. There was a brief pause, and then they began their run through the temple. The interior was dark, and just as empty as the exterior. Something felt…  _ wrong _ about running through the temple, like something might find them. Pidge shivered.

The three of them began to awkwardly tiptoe instead, trying to keep quiet.

“I think I heard something!” Lance whisper-exclaimed.

So much for keeping quiet.

They all turned to see a group of four… people, if the world could even be used to describe them. They were tall, unnaturally so, and draped in a dark red garb. Hoods and freakish masks covered their faces.

There was something incredibly… wrong about them, like they weren’t meant to be there. Like they were created out of a material that shouldn’t exist.

“We are The Druids of the Four Corners,” the one in the front hissed slowly. Their voice sounded scratchy and burnt, like there was something wrong with their throat or vocal chords. “Guardians of the Temple of the Avatar…”

There was a cautious silence before Lance stepped up. “Great! Well, here’s the Avatar, she’s Allura and she’d really love to go talk to Alfor, so…?”

“We know,” the same one growled. And then they blasted flames straight towards Allura.

...

Allura dispersed the flame with her airbending, and she glanced back at Lance and Pidge. “I will hold them off! Run!”

The sound of their fleeing footsteps was barely audible as Allura returned her focus to these… druids. They hadn’t been around ten thousand years ago. At least… not like this. Avatar Alfor would never have allowed such an abomination to tend to his temple.

She whirled around with a kick that sent a gust of wind towards the druids, and they all fell back with an eerie lack of emotion. Dead silence. Then with an odd movement of their necks, they stood back up in unison. Allura bolted from the room as fast as she could, desperate not to die and to complete her mission.

“If the Avatar contacts Alfor, there’s no telling how powerful the girl will become. Split up and find her,” the lead druid ordered.

The order seemed to ring all throughout the temple, and Allura shivered, but she would not back down in the face of danger. This was nothing compared to the fight she would be forced to partake in with the Emperor.

…

Lance and Pidge ran through the long corridors of the temple, and they were gasping for breath by the time Allura came darting around the corner. They all stopped running for a moment, exhausted, before Allura exclaimed, “Follow me!”

Lance stared after her for a moment. “D’you know where you’re going?”

“No!”

Lance and Pidge glanced at each other for a moment before running after her. They only made it a few paces before she came sprinting back.

“Wrong way!”

“Do airbenders not get tired or something?” Pidge complained.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway behind them, and Lance glanced back to spot one of the druids.

“Come back!” they exclaimed.

The three turned random corners in a mad dash to escape the druid following them. They wouldn’t give up- simply kept running. But then the team ran into a dead end. They whirled around, ready for battle.

But when the druid approached them, they mysteriously held their out.

“I don’t want to fight you,” they said. “I am a friend.”

Pidge snarled at them a little. “Firebenders aren’t our  _ friends.” _

They stepped a little closer, then dropped to their knees. “I know why you’re here, Avatar.” they said quietly.

“You do?” Allura asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Yes.” They stood up. “You wish to speak to Avatar Alfor. I can take you to him.”

Lance frowned at them, then exchanged glances with Allura and Pidge. They were all wary- they all knew that it was out of the ordinary for a firebender to be on their side. Was it even possible? How loyal  _ were _ Fire Nation citizens, anyway?

“How?” Allura asked.

The druid reached out to the light hanging on the wall and turned it, revealing a small gap in the wall. They firebended a little bit of flame inside, and two panels of the wall slid open, revealing a passage. “This way.”

Lance stared at it skeptically, then looked at his friends. Their expression mirrored his own- distrust.

“ _ Find them!” _ a voice bellowed. One of the druids. They weren’t close, but it would only be a matter of time until they were caught.

“Time is running out. Quickly!” the druid urged.

They all nodded determinedly. If this druid didn’t kill them, another would. They were being given a chance to actually do this. If this was a trap- then their situation would hardly be any worse than it already was.

Allura led the way inside, Pidge in the middle and Lance taking up the rear- and being the only thing standing between the druid and his team- as they walked inside, where they found stairs upon stairs.

The door slid shut behind them, and Lance valiantly pretended he didn’t flinch at the unexpected noise.

…

Keith frowned as he stared at the sky. When he was younger, maybe the feeling of being on a boat going at such a high speed in the ocean would be nauseating, but after years at sea, it hardly bothered him anymore. His mind was much more focused on the problem at hand.

The Avatar? For once, no.

Commander Sendak.

“What’s he up to, Shiro?” Keith muttered. “Why didn’t he arrest me?”

Shiro sighed and took a sip of his tea. Keith didn’t understand how none of it had sloshed out of the mug. “Because he wants to follow you. He knows that you’ll lead him to the prize you’re both after…”

“The Avatar,” Keith finished bitterly. “Why does he even want her? He has everything he could ever want- a high military position, my father’s favor, the ability to return home whenever he wants.” His hands tightened against the railing. “If Sendak wants to follow our trail of smoke then… fine. That’s exactly what I’ll let him do.”

Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder and patted him comfortingly. Some of the tension in him faded, but it wasn’t gone.

It wouldn’t be gone until he got what he needed.

…

At some point, the druid had begun to lead the way. They led them down the stairs, which eventually opened out into a cavern.

“Avatar Alfor once called this temple his home,” the druid suddenly said. “He formed these secret passages out of magma.”

Pidge almost instantly perked up. “Really? Have you ever spoken to his spirit?”

“No, but many generations ago, my family tended to this temple the way I do.” The druid paused, then added, “Druids have a powerful connection to this place. It runs through all of us, but few understand it.”

Pidge nodded, finding it interesting. Their mind burst with questions and ideas that they filed away as Allura spoke.

“Is that how you knew I was coming?”

They wondered if it was possible to sense or even see spirits. Allura had explained her adventure with the Red Spirit during the long, quiet hours on Voltron’s back. Was it possible, Pidge thought, that because of their connection to the Avatar through the temple, if druids could see spirits? If so, could normal people, benders and non-benders alike, do the same?

“A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred,” the druid explained. “The statue of Avatar Alfor… its eyes began to glow. That glow only happens when the Avatar goes into the Avatar State. It was how the Fire Nation learned of your return.”

“That was when we were at the Air Temple,” Pidge recalled. “The statue of Avatar Alfor there, its eyes glowed, too!”

There was a brief silence, then Allura tentatively asked, “If this is the Avatar’s temple, then why did the druids attack me?”

The druid sighed. “Things have changed. In the past, the druids were loyal only to the Avatar. When Alfor died, the druids eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But they never came.”

Allura stopped, her hand resting on the wall, her head hung low. “They were waiting for me.”

“Hey, don’t feel bad,” Lance said, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “You were only ten thousand years late.”

Pidge kicked Lance and he yelped, hopping away on one foot. “What was that for?”

“Don’t make her feel bad, idiot,” they hissed at him.

Lance rolled his eyes and muttered, “Someone’s got a little  _ cruuush, _ huh?”

“Shut up, you’re whipped for a firebender.”

The druid and Allura barely reacted to their quiet banter. The druid stopped walking and turned around to face them.

“They lost hope that the Avatar would ever return. When Emperor Zarkon started the war, the druids were left with no choice but to follow him into battle.” They shook their head. “I never wanted to serve the Emperor. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other druids.”

Allura gave a small bow, the tiniest of smiles on her face. “Thank you for helping me.”

They kept walking, and they eventually reached another staircase, this one spiraling upwards.

“We’ll follow these stairs to the sanctuary,” the druid explained, leading the way up the stairs. “Once you’re inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Alfor’s statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him.”

Once the group reached the top, the druid shoved aside a tile in the ceiling, revealing another room above them. They all pulled themselves out of the tunnel and surveyed the room.

It was beautiful, Pidge had to admit. They spared a glance at the intricately carved statues before they were distracted by the druid’s gasp.

“No!”

“What’s wrong?” Allura asked, her eyes wide.

“The sanctuary doors, they’re closed…”

Pidge took a moment to study the door. It was almost like the door at the Air Temple, so it probably required firebending instead of airbending. The immediate problem, they realized, was that there were four lion heads, their jaws open presumably for firebending- one for each druid- and only one actual firebender.

“Can you open it with firebending?” Lance asked hopefully, although his voice gave away the answer.

“No,” the druid answered. “Only a fully realized Avatar or four fire blasts are powerful enough to unlock the door.”

Pidge suddenly brightened. “I think I have an idea.”

…

“Just do your best to follow the Avatar,” Shiro said. “The boat will keep heading north, and hopefully Sendak will follow my smoke trail, and he won’t see you at all.”

Keith nodded, his gaze fixed on Shiro as his smaller boat was lowered into the ocean. “I’ll be okay, Shiro. I swear, as soon as I get the Avatar we can go home, and we won’t be captured.”

Shiro shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

…

Sendak kept his gaze trained on the ship. The smoke covered most of his view of the ocean, but the ship continued heading north.

“Hmm…”

…

“This is something I learned a few years ago,” Pidge said. They sat cross-legged on the floor as they tied the last bag. “You seal the lamp oil inside the animal skin casing, and you have to light the oil-soaked twine on fire- doesn’t matter what kind, but it was primarily used without firebending- and there you have it.” They stood up and placed a bag in each gap where the flame was meant to be.

“Wow, Pidge. This is incredible!” Allura exclaimed with a smile.

Pidge flushed slightly and nodded. “Thanks.”

“This… may actually work,” the druid said.

Pidge stuffed the bags into the lion’s mouths, then darted away, taking cover behind the lion’s mouths. “This is a lot easier with firebending. All you need to do is light where the twine is tangled together in the middle, and they should go off at the same time.”

“Awesome!” Lance let out a small laugh. “Alright, mysterious druid, whenever you’re ready.”

The druid hesitated and they tilted their head at the trio. “My fellow druids will hear the explosions, so as soon as they go off, you must rush in.”

Allura nodded firmly. “It’s nearly sunset. I’m ready.”

The druid reached their hand out from behind the statue, and a small stream of flame flowed towards the twine until it caught fire, and the druid drew back. Everyone watched as the twine burned together until it separated for each lion head, and all four simultaneously went off with a loud  _ bang. _

Smoke filled the chamber, and the three started coughing and rushing forward. Allura reached out, but her hand was met with something solid. She barely opened her eyes and she could’ve cried at the sight.

“They’re… still locked.”

“It didn’t work,” the druid murmured.

When the smoke finally cleared, Allura crumpled to the ground.

Being the Avatar wasn’t as easy as she used to think.

…

The room was washed in a deep red with the setting sun. The druid was off to the side, studying a statue that had been stained with ash. Lance was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. Allura was hurling angry blasts of air at the door, while Pidge stood to the side with a concerned look on their face.

“Why won’t it open?” Allura cried. “We must get inside! Why must the Fire Nation make everything so unnecessarily complicated?”

Pidge finally stepped up and grabbed Allura’s arm. “Allura, come on. There’s nothing we can do.”

Allura took a deep breath and hung her head. “I’m sorry I put you all through this for nothing.”

Lance shook his head. “I don’t get it. It looked as strong as any firebending I’ve ever seen.”

“Wait!” Allura’s head whipped up, her mind racing. “Lance, you’re a genius!”

“Wait, how is  _ Lance _ a genius?” Pidge said. “He didn’t even come up with the plan!”

“Well, your plan didn’t even  _ work, _ Pidgey,” Lance reminded her. “But yeah, how am  _ I  _ a genius?”

“It  _ looks _ like the plan worked,” Allura observed, gesturing to the soot-covered room. “Perhaps we could trick them?”

Pidge nodded, their eyes wide. “That’s actually really good! Yeah, we just need to convince the druids to open it  _ for us!” _

Lance nodded. “Yep, you’re welcome guys, it’s all me.”

…

They led their fellow druids up the stairs, gesturing urgently. A good thing about the druid masks- they hid facial expressions quite well. “Hurry! The Avatar as entered the sanctuary!”

“How did she get in?” one druid asked as they reached the top of the stairs and entered the room that contained the door- and the Avatar and her friends.

“I don’t know,” they lied. “But look at the scorch marks and down there!” They pointed at the shadow that was moving back and forth from the other side of the door.

“She’s inside,” another druid agreed. “We must open the doors immediately before she contacts Avatar Alfor.”

They kept an eye on where they knew the Avatar was hidden, ready to dart into the room the moment the door was open. They and their fellow druids simultaneously let out bursts of fire, and the fire works its way through the lock until the door creaks open.

The light inside at first is blinding, but when it finally clears, the only thing inside the room is the Avatar’s mice.

“It’s the Avatar’s mice!” a druid exclaimed. “They must have crawled through the pipes! We’ve been tricked!”

The mice suddenly leaped together at the druid in the lead, bowling them over. Hiding a grin wasn’t even necessary with a mask. It was finally happening.

Pidge and Lance jumped down from their hiding spots and attacked the other two druids, Pidge with their strange little weapon with sparks and Lance with his waterbending.

“Now, Allura!” they shouted.

She didn’t appear.

“Allura, now’s your chance!” Pidge shouted.

But when Allura emerged from behind the column, she wasn’t alone.

…

Sneaking into a sacred temple meant only for the druids, his father, his stepmother, and the Avatar? Maybe not Keith’s best decision, but okay. He could live with that. A bigger problem? Traitors, overly-complicated plots, an entire mess. Okay. The battle having already started by the time he got there? Not a great way to start off the beginning of the end, but Keith could still do it.

The Avatar was just standing there, without a clue that Keith was there. So it was easy to quickly grab her, her arms twisted at awkward angles. She was fighting against him, and she pulled him out into everyone else’s view. Keith’s eyes widened at the glares of all the people that definitely  _ did not _ want him to take the Avatar.

This would _ not _ turn out well, would it?

“The… the Avatar’s coming with me!” Keith called in what he hoped was a threatening voice. He hadn’t had a lot of time to practice that lately, okay? He wasn’t naturally scary, like Lotor. He had to actually  _ try. _ But everyone else looked conflicted enough that hopefully it was somewhat threatening.

_ Why are you even thinking about this now? _

The druids burst into action, shooing away- were those  _ mice?- _ the waterbender boy, Lance, and the other one- Pidge?

Hopefully the druids would make some attempt to work with him.

“Close the doors, quickly!” Keith urged as he started marching the Avatar away. The sound of chains rattling echoed behind him, and Keith made a valiant attempt at not shivering when he thought-  _ that might be him _ , if he didn’t do this right.

The Avatar kept glancing back anxiously, and before they got to the stairs, she began fighting back. She turned, breaking her arms free, and kicked Keith down the stairs with her airbending.

Keith fell to the ground, his head spinning, watching as she darted away. Why did he always have to lose? Seriously? Couldn’t the Avatar just be nice and cooperate? If she did that, his father probably would mostly let her free within the Fire Nation- which was actually a nice deal. Keith would give anything to be able to do that. Including the Avatar herself.

He wondered dazedly if she and her allies were actually nice. Would they just give up and let him take them to the Fire Nation? If they broke out, it probably wouldn’t be on him. And judging from all the times he’d already lost to them, he doubted it would be too difficult for them.

Or maybe Keith was just a failure.

…

Allura ran for her friends, her legs moving as fast as they could. But Pidge and Lance shook their heads violently.

“Go!”

“It’s almost nightfall!”

Allura was torn, but she knew that she’d never have another chance like this. So she swerved away from her path and headed over to the doors instead. She jumped into the air and used the heads of two of the druids as stepping stones. She dove into the room just as a third pushed the door closed.

She made it.

A blast of bright light forced her to close her eyes, and Allura tried to understand it, but she  _ couldn’t. _ When it cleared, she could see the light creeping up the statue.

“Why isn’t it working?” she asked out loud. “Avatar Alfor, why won’t you let me talk to you?”

…

Keith had managed to drag himself up the stairs and back to the druids- he wasn’t  _ that much _ of a failure- and he fell into a battle stance in front of one of the lions’ heads when they told him to. He wasn’t totally sure what was happening- no one had ever bothered teaching him about the spiritual side of bending and the Fire Nation, and he had never found that important back when he had access to most of the well-educated scripts that told of spirits. But even he could guess that something related to Avatar Alfor stood on the other side of the door, and the druids did  _ not _ want the Avatar to know what that something was.

But that wasn’t important. Sure, maybe it would come back to bite him in the long run- but the only thing that mattered to Keith was capturing the Avatar and sailing home. He was actually  _ in the Fire Nation. _ For the first time since his exile! And soon, he would be able to be home again, where he belonged- at his father’s, or rather, Lotor’s side, since Lotor would be standing closer, Haggar standing on the other side of the throne, everything he ever wanted available to him once more. Maybe Keith would never be emperor- if his father ever  _ died- _ but that was okay. He would find someone he loved, have a happy life, and die at a relatively normal age a part of the royal family. No longer hated, no longer cast away, no longer considered a worthless waste of space in the Fire Nation...

This would all be over.

Right?

He sent a blast of fire at the same time as the druids- should Keith feel honored to be included in such a thing?- but the door didn’t open with a click.

“Why isn’t it working?” Keith muttered to himself. “It’s… sealed shut.”

“It must have been that burst of light,” a druid observed. Keith jumped; he hadn’t expected them to be able to hear him.

Druids were pretty creepy.

…

The sun was sinking below the waves now, the room turned a dark shade of pink, nearly violet. The light had reached Avatar Alfor’s chest. Nothing was  _ happening. _

“Why isn’t anything happening?” Allura cried, anxiety twisting in her stomach. “I don’t know what I’m doing! All I know is airbending! Avatar Alfor,  _ please talk to me!” _

The light hits the statue’s face, and the world goes blank for a moment as they eyes glow brighter and brighter until they’re blinding.

Allura finds herself standing on a mountain range, Avatar Alfor standing beside her.

“It’s good to see you, Allura.”

…

The traitorous druid was kneeling on the floor, the other druids standing around them. Keith stood awkwardly off to the side, closer to the traitor than to the loyal druids.

The druids were conversing quietly amongst themselves, so Keith quietly asked the traitor, “Why did you help the Avatar?”

They looked up at Keith, their head tilted slightly with what might be curiosity. “Because it was once the druids’ duty, and it still is.”

The sound of slow clapping from behind him made Keith jump and whirl around. At the top of the stairs stood Sendak, a host of soldiers fanned out to both sides.

Keith’s stomach dropped.

“What a moving and heartfelt performance,” Sendak said sarcastically. “I’m sure the Emperor will understand why you betrayed him.”

Keith bristled. “Sendak.”

The druids gave what could barely be considered a bow. “Commander Sendak.”

Druids were higher ranked, anyway.

“Prince Keith, it was a noble effort, but your little smoke screen didn’t work.” Sendak’s voice dropped to a threatening tone. “Two traitors in one day. The Emperor will be pleased.” He waved his arm, and his soldiers surrounded Keith, quickly grabbing him.

Keith struggled, but the bruising grip of the soldier didn’t give. “You’re too late, Sendak. The Avatar is inside and the doors are sealed.”

“No matter. Sooner or later, she will have to come out.”

Pidge and Lance exchanged worried looks.

…

“I have something very important to tell you, Allura,” Alfor said, his gaze meeting hers with a quiet seriousness. “That is why, when you were in the astral plane, I sent the Red Spirit to find you.”

Allura nodded. “Is it about my vision? The comet, it…”

“Yes.”

“What does it mean?” she asked, her eyes wide, feeling rather childish beside such a great warrior, leader, bender. What was Allura in comparison?

The sky faded from dusk to night, stars scattered across like paint splatters. The comet appeared, slowly crossing the sky.

“Ten thousand years ago, Emperor Zarkon used that comet to begin the war. He and his firebending army harnessed its incredible power and dealt a deadly first strike against the other nations.”

The night sky faded back to sunset, and Allura grew anxious. What did that mean? “The comet makes firebenders more powerful?”

“Yes. More powerful than you could ever imagine.” Alfor’s face had become grim, and he looked almost… sad.

“But that happened ten thousand years ago,” Allura pointed out. “What does that comet have to do with the war now?”

“Listen carefully.”

A faint image appeared in Allura’s mind of a man- he must have been Zarkon- made a shadow beside the flames. He held himself in a solid battle stance, one meant for staying still and anchored.

“Zarkon’s comet will return at the end of the summer. And the Emperor will use that power to finish the war once and for all.”

The Zarkon in Allura’s mind took a deep breath, then let out a wordless yell, fire bursting from his mouth, joining the rest. The image disappeared, and Allura shivered.

“If he succeeds, even the Avatar won’t be able to restore balance to the world,” Alfor explained, his eyes flashing with a fire that reminded Allura that Alfor was Fire Nation, just like Zarkon. “Allura, you  _ must _ defeat Zarkon before the comet arrives.”

“But I haven’t even started waterbending,” Allura objected guiltily. “Not to mention earth or fire. How am I supposed to defeat him by then?”

“Mastering the elements takes years of discipline and practice,” Alfor told her gently yet firmly. “But if the world is to survive, you must do it by summer’s end.”

Fear and worry flooded Allura’s mind, and she wanted to run away. She didn’t want this responsibility. Surely someone else would be better with it? Why did she have to become the Avatar?

…

“When those doors open, unleash all your firepower!”

Lance watched as the soldiers and druids surrounded the doors in battle stances. He bit his lip, his mind racing. How did they get out of this? They needed a plan! But Pidge looked far too overwhelmed, and the druid wouldn’t be any help. Allura. Allura would do something. She had always been able to do it before.

He glanced over at where Keith was chained to another column. Lance didn’t understand Fire Nation politics at all, and maybe it was some weird tradition thing that he didn’t understand, but… it looked wrong. Something wasn’t supposed to be there. Was it this… Commander Sendak’s unexpected hostility? Was it the fact that the one person without a single ally in all of this was Keith?

_ You’re being stupid, Lance, _ he reminded himself, and focused on the door instead of the firebender. But Keith still lingered at the edges of his thoughts.

“How’s Allura going to make it out of this?” Lance whispered.

“How’re  _ we _ going to make it out of this?” Pidge whispered back.

…

“What if I can’t master all the elements in time?” Allura asked urgently. “What if I fail?”

“I know you can do it, Allura,” Alfor said with a small smile. “For you have done it thousands of times before. The solstice is ending. We must go our separate ways.”

“But I won’t be able to come back to the temple,” Allura said. “What if I have questions? How can I speak with you?”

“I am a part of you. When you need to talk to me again, you will find a way.”

Allura closed her eyes, and the scene before her changed to a view of the island- an enormous Fire Nation ship waited at the dock. They were probably inside already. Allura panicked- had they captured her friends? What was going on?

“A great danger awaits you back at the temple.” The scene dissolved back to the mountains. “I can help you face the threat.” Then there was an image of a firebender commander Allura hadn’t ever seen, standing outside of the door, waiting. Allura felt the marks on her cheeks begin to tingle, a sign that they were beginning to glow.

“But only if you are ready.”

Allura gave a firm nod and opened her eyes. The world was washed in many different colors, and she knew she was beginning to go into the Avatar state.

“I am ready.”

The white light blinded her once more, and Allura let herself drift for what seemed like hours and barely a second simultaneously.

She was ready.

…

The bright light flooded from under the door of the sanctuary, and Lance stiffened. He glanced away, and his gaze landed on Keith once again, who had also turned away from the light. Lance tried to focus, really, but sometimes he couldn’t help his thoughts from drifting.

_ How is Keith’s hair so perfect? Why does it look so good in a long ponytail? _

“Ready…” Sendak called slowly, his stance tightening.

The light from the other side dimmed and faded, and the doors opened slowly. The other side was dark, apart from two tiny glowing marks.

And then Allura opened her eyes.

“No! Allura!” Pidge shouted, struggling against the chains in vain.

“Fire!” Sendak shouted, and sent the first blast of fire towards Allura. The others quickly followed. Soon, the spot that she should’ve been was engulfed in flames.

But then the fire thinned out, and standing there was not Allura, but Avatar Alfor.

The entire room gasped, and Lance stared in awe at the man.

“Avatar Alfor!” the druid cried from beside Lance.

Alfor turned back the fire on the soldiers, and they all fell to the ground. The fire that whipped past Lance and Pidge’s faces destroyed the chains, and so did Keith’s. Keith ran, and no one bothered to chase him.

The Avatar blasted a wall, creating an explosion of dust and stone. People began running in all directions, smoke filling the room.

“Avatar Alfor is going to destroy the temple!” the druid exclaimed. “We must leave!”

“Not without Allura!” Pidge cried.

Alfor brought his hand down to the floor, and it split open, magma oozing from it. He lifted a hand and lava exploded into the temple, creating great columns that shot hundreds of feet into the air, reaching the high ceiling, which exploded.

The last of the remaining Fire Nation soldiers fled, leaving only Lance, Pidge, the druid, and… whatever happened to Allura.

Lance had his arms around Pidge, hoping to shield them as best he could. When it finally stopped, Lance peeked out to see all of the smoke in the room rush towards Alfor, and when it vanished, he was gone, leaving Allura, who fell to the ground.

“We got your back,” Lance said, helping Allura up.

“Thanks,” Allura mumbled exhaustedly. “Where’s the druid?”

“I don’t know,” Pidge replied honestly.

…

The collapsing temple, while a fascinating feat that Pidge would have loved to study, was not a great place to be. Their only option seemed to be the hole left in the side of the temple- but soon their rescuers arrived.

Coran, flying Voltron, appeared, a wild grin on his face. “Hurry! Jump on!”

They did, and they quickly scrambled to get a secure grip on Voltron as she flew away, heading away from the temple and the island. Pidge watched as the temple sunk into the volcano, which was definitely active, and vanished from view. The Fire Nation soldiers scrambled away from the lava as much as possible, and they couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

“We did it!” Lance exclaimed tiredly. “We won!”

“Allura, did you learn more about your vision?” Coran asked gently.

“Yes, I did,” Allura said, a small smile on her face.

“We’re okay now,” Pidge breathed. “I thought we weren’t going to be."  


“Now we’re one step closer to defeating the Fire Nation!” Lance said, a grin spreading on his face. “That was… amazing. Allura, how did you do that?”

“That… is a story for another day,” Allura replied.

…

“No bastard, no Avatar. Apparently the only thing I do have is four traitors,” Sendak growled.

The druids looked at each other, then briefly glanced at the traitor. “We are your superior,” one of the druids reminded him. “We have more power. Besides, the druid of the East is the only one who betrayed the Emperor.”

“Emperor Zarkon respects power and strength more than he does your mystical magic,” Sendak snarled. “You’ll find yourselves in prison soon enough.”

…

Keith dropped the spyglass and closed his eyes, leaning into Shiro slightly. “I failed. Again.”

Shiro ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry, Keith. I’m sure you’ll get ‘em next time.” Keith only yawned in reply, and Shiro smiled. “I think it’s someone’s bedtime.”

“I don’t need sleep, Shiro!” Keith objected indignantly, but the prospect of a warm bed  _ was  _ inviting…

“Sure you don’t,” Shiro laughed as he guided Keith away from the railing and back to his chambers. “Sure you don’t.”

…

_ bLaDe-MaRmOra _

_ dRuiD-rAnK _

_ ULAZ _

_ hAs BeEN _

_ cOmPrOmIsEd _

Thace sighed and set down the letter. “Ulaz is gone.”

“He’s dead?” Kolivan asked.

“No, but he might as well be.” Thace shook his head in defeat. “We never should have tried to infiltrate the druids- it’s far too risky.”

Kolivan let out a breath. “Ulaz is… crafty. He’ll be fine.”

“The Avatar was involved.”

“The Avatar?”

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry  
> this took absolutely f o r e v e r to write  
> i think less happens in the next episode so maybe expect it sometime before a month and a half from now?  
> thanks for reading!


	9. The Waterbending Scroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pirates  
> waterbending  
> jealousy  
> that good Klance

Allura paced back and forth on Voltron’s back as she flew through the mountains, above the clouds.

“Will you sit down?” Lance complained from where he held the reins. “If we hit a bump, you’ll go flying.”

“I’m just… anxious,” Allura said, attempting a small smile. It didn’t work. 

“What are you worried about, Allura?” Coran asked.

“It’s just what Avatar Alfor told me,” Allura said with a sigh. “I… must master all four elements before summer’s end, but what if I’m not ready? I still haven’t mastered waterbending, and we’re _weeks_ away from the North Pole!”

Pidge reached up and grabbed Allura’s arm. “Quit pacing. Maybe Lance could teach you a bit about waterbending?”

“I could do that!” Lance chirped.

“Really?” Allura asked, and she sat down, folding her legs gracefully. “That would be… helpful.”

“We just need to find a body of water,” Lance said, peering over the side of Voltron’s head.

Pidge snorted. “Yeah, we’ll find a puddle to splash in.”

…

They all stared up at the magnificent waterfall for a few moments.

“Nice puddle,” Pidge mumbled, before retreating back to the relative safety of Voltron.

“C’mon, Pidge!” Lance exclaimed. “Have some fun for once!”

“I am having fun,” Pidge objected, waving their notebook in the air. “Fun. When I get the calculations right, I’ll be able to electrocute you with a stick.”

“Don’t worry, Pidge!” Coran said brightly. “I’ll be cleaning Voltron, so you might end up in the water anyway!”

Pidge stared at him before closing the notebook and hugging it protectively to their chest. “Fine. I’ll have fun- _by the water.”_ They wandered up to the water and cautiously stuck a hand in.

Lance made a face and turned back to Allura. “Alright. So… waterbending.”

…

_A solid punch for a solid blast of flames. One, two-_

Keith was sent staggering to the side of the ship as it suddenly changed direction, throwing him off balance. He gripped the side of the ship tightly and glanced suspiciously up at the bridge. “Someone’s changing our course.”

When the ship stopped turning and settled down, Keith stalked up to the bridge, trying to contain his anger- was it anger? Or confusion? He wasn’t really sure these days- and threw open the door, although it was really more of just opening it quickly, because he hated being dramatic. Shiro said it made him seem like a little kid again.

“Why’s the ship changing course? No one said to-” He stopped mid-sentence as his mind caught up with his mouth, and Keith realized the entire crew, plus Shiro, were all crowded around a Pai Sho table.

“Don’t worry about it, Keith,” Shiro said kindly with a small smile. “It’s a matter of utmost importance.”

If they were alone, and if Keith didn’t have the tragic backstory he had, and was probably tired, he might’ve laughed at Shiro using such fancy words, but as it was, he didn’t relax at all.

“Is it something to do with the Avatar?” Keith ventured awkwardly, glancing at the other crew members. He hated talking with Shiro like this when they were around- what if they realized that Keith wasn’t really as in control as he appeared to be? What if they thought he was weak?

What if they realized he was still just a kid and didn’t bother listening to him anymore?

Shiro sighed. “I lost the Marmora tile.”

A lot of things flashed through Keith’s mind. First- an image of the Marmora tile. He wasn’t sure where the name came from, but it was an image of a curved blade- he had suspected that it had something to do with the royal family, because his mother had given him a knife that looked identical to the one on the tile before she left. Then his gaze flicked down to the Pai Sho table, which, indeed, no longer had a Marmora tile. Then he glanced back up at Shiro, and he realized that Shiro was changing their course for a _game piece._

“Are you serious?” Keith groaned. “You changed our course for a _Marmora tile?”_

“See, Keith, you’re underestimating the importance of the Marmora tile,” Shiro said easily. “I just need ten minutes to check the merchants at the nearest port. Hopefully, they’ll have one, and then we can move on.” He smiled again, and Keith wondered if Shiro was actually serious. He had known the man had gotten soft- with his newfound love of tea and Pai Sho straight out of the arena- but really? _Really?_

Keith rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just- just don’t take forever? Please?”

Shiro just nodded pleasantly.

…

Pidge shielded their notebook as Voltron shook, and water droplets sprayed everywhere. They looked at the winged lion with mock betrayal. “I can’t believe this. Voltron. I thought I could trust you.”

Lance grinned at them, then glanced back at Allura. “Okay. Well, my pupil, let’s start with the basics.” He moved to the edge of the shore, just before sand turned to water. “This took me months to perfect, so don’t feel too bad if you don’t get it on your first try.” He moved his arms back and forth, and the water below moved as well. It was small, just a wave going back and forth. “Just push and pull the water like this. It’s all in the wrist.” He winked, and Allura made a face at him.

She copied his movements, her hands moving back and forth. Nothing happened.

Lance nodded. “That’s okay, you’ve just got to keep practicing-” 

“I think I’m doing it!” Allura exclaimed suddenly, and there she was, making bigger waves on her first try.

“Wow,” Lance observed. “It took me _two months_ to learn that.” He felt a little bitter, but whatever- Allura’s the Avatar, she probably had some sort of affinity for the water that made her pick things up faster. She’d probably catch up to him in a few weeks of training.

“You had to learn it all on your own,” Allura said gently. “I have a good teacher.”

“Thanks.” Lance smiled back at her, then squared his shoulders and tried again. “Okay. This time, we’re going to do a little something I like to call ‘Streaming the Water.’” He began to move his arms fluidly, and a little bit of water came out from the lake. He brought it towards him and he circled it around a few times. “It’s harder than it looks, so don’t be disappointed if-” He looked up at Allura and nearly dropped the water when he saw her doing the exact same thing, with even more water.

“Like this?” she asked.

“Nice work,” Lance offered with a crooked half-smile. They felt like they were getting faker each time.

“What else do you know?” Allura asked.

“Well,” Lance shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “I… _kinda_ know this other one, but it’s pretty hard, and I haven’t totally figured it out yet. The idea is to create a big, powerful wave.” He moved his hands up, and a wave at least the size of Pidge came up. His hands shook as he tried to make it bigger, but then it popped and the water fell back into the river.

“So… like this?” Allura asked, and she moved her hands up the way Lance had. A massive wave that towered above them came out of the water, and it arched towards Pidge. They shrieked and tossed their notebook onto dry land before getting swept into the river.

As the water settled, Coran popped his head up from the river. “I haven’t seen a wave like that since the time of King Groggery the Infirm!”

“Coran, you weren’t alive during that time,” Allura pointed out, as if she was unaware of the face that she had just _totally destroyed Lance’s hopes and dreams._

“Looks like that’s enough practice for today!” Lance exclaimed, his voice oddly high.

“Allura, hate to point this out,” Pidge said, emerging from the water, “but you kind of just ‘practiced’ all of our supplies away.” They pointed at where the bags were vanishing downriver.

“Oh,” Allura said guiltily. “I apologize. Surely there’s somewhere we can replace our supplies?”

…

They walked through the streets of the small port town- Coran had vanished off somewhere nearly immediately, and Pidge wondered if he knew this city or if he was just… eccentric.

Pidge noticed, as they turned onto a different street, that suddenly the accents of the people around them had changed. It was thicker, harder to understand, and rougher. They glanced around and observed the cold, powerful appearances of the people that lined the street. A feeling of unease settled in their gut.

The three of them found themselves a quiet spot on the street, and Pidge looked through their bag. “I think we’ve only got three gac left from the money Slav gave us.” That entire experience was so, so strange.

“Actually,” Allura said with an ashamed expression, “consider it two gac.” She held up a small whistle shaped like a lion. “I wanted to buy something shiny for myself!”

“Allura’s never been to an Unilu swap meet before!” Coran exclaimed suddenly, and they all turned to stare at him with his sudden reappearance. “But don’t worry, I think I might’ve found a place I used to know…” He stroked his mustache, and Pidge swore it _glittered._ “Follow me!”

Coran led the way down the busy streets, and they ended up at the docks, in front of a man standing in front of his boat, shouting, “Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you’re welcome here! Don’t be shy, come on by!”

When he spotted their little group, he rushed up to them and exclaimed, “Oh! You there! I can see from your clothing that you’re world-travelling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?”

Allura leaned over to Coran and whispered, “What are curios?”

“Well, why don’t we ask this fellow?” Coran replied cheerfully. “This young lady’s never been to a swap meet! Why don’t you explain to her what a curio is?”

“Swap meet?” the man muttered under his breath, scratching the back of his head in confusion. “Well, I’m not entirely sure. But we got ‘em!”

The four glanced at each other and followed him into his ship, where he introduced a variety of strange objects most of them had never seen- apart from Coran, but apparently he’d done everything, so there was no telling with him.

Allura leaned close to one of the shelves, studying a strange object. “What is this…?”

Pidge’s gaze met that of a bejeweled statue of a monkey. Rubies, they noted.

Coran jumped around the store, seeming to be at one end one second, and in a totally different area the next, making loud “hmm” sounds.

“I’ve never seen such fine specimens of mice,” someone observed. Allura turned to see a man with a strange square-shaped hat and an odd grin. “Those beasts would fetch a hefty sum if you’d be willing to part with them!”

Allura’s hand immediately went up to her mice friends, almost shielding them from his gaze. “My friends are _not_ for sale.”

…

On the other side of the shop, unaware of what was going on, Lance’s gaze caught a scroll with a familiar-looking emblem carved into the case. He reached forward and grabbed it, then carefully unrolled it.

The paper showed waterbending poses, he realized with a gasp and a smile on his face. “Look at this, guys!”

Pidge and Allura walked over, and Allura immediately lit up. “Lance! We could learn waterbending with this!”

They grinned at each other for a moment, then Pidge interrupted.

“Where did you get that scroll?”

Their question was directed to the man with the hat, who looked immediately alarmed. He immediately grabbed the scroll and rolled it back up, then put it back on the shelf. “Let’s just say… I got it up North, at a very reasonable price. Free.” He grinned.

“Wait a minute…” Lance said. “Sea-loving traders? Suspiciously acquired merchandise? Funny hats? You guys are pirates!”

“You’re correct, Lance!” Coran exclaimed, popping over to stand beside Lance. “These fellows are Unilu Pirates! Quite famous in my day, I must say. And this is an original!” He gestured to the ship.

The salesman from earlier grinned. “We prefer to think of ourselves as… high risk traders.”

“Stunting potential consumer outcome, I must say,” Coran muttered to himself. “Who doesn’t love pirates?”

“So, how much for the… traded scroll?” Allura asked tentatively.

“We’ve already got a buyer in the Earth Kingdom,” the man said. “Unless, of course, you’ve got two hundred gac on ya right now.”

“Don’t worry,” Coran whispered to them secretively, stepping forward. “I know how to deal with these guys. Unilu love to haggle.” He turned back to the leader. “Let’s say, the price of one gac!”

“Your firstborn child.”

“The piece of lint in my pocket.”

“I’d accept your right foot.”

“I’d be willing to sing you a song!”

“You become my butler for one year.”

“Two gac!”

Allura elbowed Coran. “I think we’re getting odd looks.”

“Oh, alright,” Coran sighed. “But don’t think this is over!” he added, pointing at the captain. “I’ll be back soon enough, you’ll see!”

They all filed out of the ship and stood on the docks in silence.

“Allura, are you okay?” Pidge asked, frowning. “You look a little unsettled.”

“I’ll simply feel much better when we’re away from here,” Allura said lightly, though her voice betrayed her uneasiness.

“Hey, you! Get back here!”

They all whirled around to see the salesman pirate running towards them.

“Well, look who’s back already!” Coran observed. “I knew my singing voice was wonderful enough to win us that scroll!”

Instead of running out with panicked expressions, the pirates that emerged from the ship were heavily armed, and the four of them were all pretty sure they weren’t there to trade.

“Run!”

…

Allura turned to run first, and Pidge, Lance, and Coran followed close behind. Pidge wondered why the pirates were chasing after them, but that was really a question for another time.

Pidge glanced over their shoulder and saw half the group of pirates turning and running down another street.

“This way, let’s cut them off!"

Allura must have heard that, because she turned a sharp corner. The others scrambled to do the same.

…

Sal peacefully set the sign Fire Navy-regulation straight and nodded to himself. “Now providing sustenance for the price of three gac-!”

Then the world turned to dust for a moment, and when he regained clarity, he saw nothing but his cart knocked over and his beautiful sustenance destroyed. “My sustenance! This town is worse than Almora!”

…

A group of pirates suddenly turns the corner to face Allura, Pidge, Lance, and Coran. They turn around and start running in the opposite direction. As they turned the corner, Pidge heard one of them shouting, “I hope those mice of yours have nine lives!”

They turn again, and they realize it’s a dead end. Before the team can turn and escape, the pirates are blocking their entrance.

“Now,” a pirate said, twirling his swords in the air, “who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?”

“Not today,” Allura said, and she gestured to a large box stacked in the corner of the alley. “Get on!”

The three of them scrambled onto the box, and with a blast of air, they were on the other side of the wall and away from the pirates. Allura propelled herself up with wind and followed them.

When they were safely away from the pirates, they all let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I used to kinda look up to pirates,” Lance said wryly. “But those guys were terrible.”

“Yes,” Allura agreed, then added guiltily, “And that’s why I took this.” She revealed the waterbending scroll. It had been practically burning from where she had carefully wrapped it up in her robes. She didn’t like stealing, and growing up among the peaceful Air Nomads had taught her that stealing was inappropriate and dishonorable, but those Unilu pirates didn’t deserve it any more than they did.

“Allura!” Coran gasped in astonishment.

“You stole their scroll?” Pidge said in disbelief.

“They stole it from a waterbender,” Allura pointed out uncomfortably, looking away.

“It’s… kinda wrong, I guess,” Lance pointed out with an awkward frown.

“What’s done is done,” Pidge sighed. “Guess we should learn from it.” They shook their head.

…

Keith let out an annoyed breath when he saw Shiro emerge empty-handed once again.

“There’s not a Marmora tile anywhere,” Shiro said with a sigh, like he was genuinely irritated, which seemed out of character for him. Usually, he was fairly… mellow. Keith guessed he was done with all of the stress Keith had put him through over the past month. Which… made sense. Keith would be done with himself if he could, too. But Lotor would probably show up and make him try again, over and over, because it was never perfect. Keith had recurring nightmares about various scenarios like that.

“Well, it’s good to know this trip was a total waste of time for _everyone,”_ Keith said bitterly. He wasn’t mad at Shiro, not really. But… did Shiro seriously have to waste time like this? Who knew what the Avatar was up to?

And speaking of the Avatar-

Keith tilted his head and inched closer to a conversation he barely caught snippets of, but he got the general idea. “The Water Tribe kids and the two monks.” was pretty promising.

“Did one of the monks have long, white hair?” he asked.

…

Despite Lance’s objections to how they got the scroll, he wouldn’t say no to a chance to learn actual waterbending moves. There was only so much he could teach himself.

So he took the scroll when Allura offered it to him and immediately opened it and tried the first one. Coran had vanished off somewhere again, and Allura and Pidge had sat down at the shore while he stood by the water, preparing himself for a challenge.

“‘The Single Water Whip,’” Lance read aloud to himself. “Seems… doable.” His eyes scanned over the movements illustrated on the scroll. He slipped into a fighting stance, and he attempted to copy the move, but it ended up just hitting him in the head. “Ow!”

Lance could hear Pidge stifling their giggles. “What are you laughing at, you gremlin?” he exclaimed.

“I think you’ve been tricked,” Pidge whispered to Allura. “He just wants to learn waterbending himself.”

In his heart, Lance knew that Pidge wasn’t being totally serious, but it still irked him. “I’m not! Allura, I’ll teach you once I figure it out, I swear.”

“You’ll get it,” Allura said with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Lance.” She stood up and took the same position, and did it flawlessly. “You just need to shift your weight, that’s all-”

“Shut up!” Lance suddenly yelled, overwhelmed by everything he had been through today. All Allura’s fault. _Why, why why_ was she ruining everything today? He had been humiliated, he had run from pirates… couldn’t he just get a break? Seriously? Hello, universe? What the fuck? “You’ve messed everything up today, and I’m so tired! I want to go home, I want to relax, but you keep screwing it all up! Sometimes your infinite wisdom gets a little exhausting!”

When he finished his rant, he froze when he met Allura’s eyes. “Allura, I…”

Her colorful eyes were filled with tears, and Lance felt immediately guilty. “I’m sorry…” He picked up the scroll and tossed it to Pidge. “I don’t think any of us should look at that today again.”

“What, and I don’t count?” Pidge grumbled under their breath, but Lance could tell that they were grateful Lance had gotten it out of his system.

Allura took a deep breath. “It’s quite alright, Lance. I think… I think we’re all tired and hungry.”

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed. “Let’s find Coran again- where did he go, anyways?- and get out of this place.”

…

“Shouldn’t we stop to search the woods?”

Keith glanced over at the pirate- the captain, probably- with a skeptical expression. “They stole a waterbending scroll, didn’t they?”

“Well- yes,” the pirate said, embarrassed.

“Then they’ll be on the water,” Keith said firmly, turning back to scan the shore.

…

Lance wasn’t able to sleep that night.

The fire was warm, and he _wanted_ to sleep, but his mind was racing with thoughts- most of them about the scroll that lay on top of Pidge’s bag. It would be _so easy_ to get up and just… take it. He wouldn’t do too much- just… just enough to get some sort of edge on Allura. That was all. He didn’t need to become a prodigy in one night or anything.

Quietly as he could, he got out of his sleeping bag and sneaked over to the scroll. Lance picked it up and quickly backed away, not turning his gaze away from the sleeping people surrounding the fire.

When he was sure that they wouldn’t wake up, he turned and met Allura’s mice, their eyes fixed on his own. That wasn’t creepy at all. “Shh,” he told them, holding a finger up to his lips. “Go back to sleep.”

They gave quiet squeaks, but showed no sign of going back to bed. Lance gave the quietest annoyed groan he possibly could and hurried away from them, hoping they would at least leave him alone and not wake up the others. They probably loved Allura too much to take away her beauty sleep.

When he reached the water once again, he opened the scroll and attempted the Water Whip once more. But even when he got some water away from the rest of the river, it didn’t _move._

“Why am I so terrible at this?” he said angrily, probably louder than he should be. “Come on, work with me here!” He tried again but the water just smacked him in the face again. “ _Ouch…”_

…

Keith’s head _immediately_ whipped up when he heard the voice of that _waterbender._ Lance. He glanced at the pirate, who nodded emphatically.

“That was one of them.”

…

“Okay, Lance, _shift through_ your stances,” Lance told himself sternly. Shockingly, it was not himself that dropped the water this time- it was the surprise at hearing a strange noise. He let the water quietly return to the river, then peeked through a bush that seemed to be in the general direction of the source- never a good way to determine things, but what else was Lance supposed to do?

His eyes widened, and he immediately became serious. A Fire Nation ship beside a pirate ship was at the shore of the river, and he had no doubt the firebenders in there were looking for Allura. Lance turned away and began running, but he ran straight into a pirate.

The pirate spun him around and grabbed his wrists, and Lance let out a shout. “Get off of me!” He bended water up into the pirate’s face, and they let go, sputtering. But Lance, once again, didn’t look where he was running to, and bumped into someone else.

Short. Long black hair. Fire Nation armor. Prince _Keith._

Keith grabbed Lance’s wrists and leaned up into Lance’s face, a serious yet conflicted look in his eyes. “Good thing you don’t have a boomerang this time.”

…

Keith tied the last knot and stepped back a bit. Lance was now successfully tied to a tree, a fact Keith could tell he was _not_ happy about.

Keith crossed his arms and tapped his foot anxiously as he met Lance’s gaze. “Tell me where she is and I won’t hurt any of your friends.” It felt surprisingly refreshing to not be losing for once.

“No way!” Lance squirmed against his restraints. “You’re not hurting Allura!”

Keith frowned at him. “There’s literally no way you could possibly escape right now.”

Lance just scowled. “I’m never going to give you any information, and we both know that. So why don’t you just let me go?” He gave a sarcastically sweet smile. “Go jump in a river.”

“Listen,” Keith sighed and continued quietly, “I need the Avatar to restore my honor, and I can restore something you’ve lost, if you’re willing to cooperate.” He reached into his bag and revealed a familiar sight. “Your anklet?”

Lance gave a flat glare. “Give that back.”

“I’ll give it back if you tell me where she is.”

“You don’t understand, I need that-”

“Enough with this jewelry garbage.” One of the Unilu came up suddenly from behind Keith, and he tried not to jump. “You promised a scroll!”

Keith whirled around to glare at him. He grabbed the scroll from where it was resting on the ground and held up to the pirate’s face, then started a small fire in his other hand near it. “How much is this worth?” Keith wasn’t great at threatening people, but he got the basic idea. From the look on the pirate’s face, it worked. “You help me find what I want, and you get this back. Search the woods for the girl, and we’ll all leave happy.”

The pirate scowled. “Fine.” He turned back to his fellow pirates and directed them away. Keith watched them separate out into groups, then nodded and turned back to Lance.

“You know, this would be a lot hotter if you stopped asking me about another girl?"

Keith bit his tongue and pretended the flush brought to his cheeks was nothing more than a result of feeling insulted. And he did feel insulted. About the girl part. Maybe not the part where Lance called him hot. But he didn’t need to think about that right now.

“If you’re not going to help me, then be quiet.”

“Kinky.”

…

“It’s gone!”

Pidge bolted upright from where they were sleeping to stare at Allura, suddenly wide awake. “What’s gone?”

“The scroll,” Allura said, pulling at her hair anxiously. “I knew I never should have taken it, now the Unilu are after us, and we’re all fighting, and Lance took the scroll and left!”

“Coran, do you have some way of tracking Lance?” Pidge asked, then turned to glance at where Coran was sleeping- but he was gone. “Coran?”

Pidge and Allura glanced at each other, then Pidge let out a muffled shriek as they felt something pushed over their head, their vision immediately going dark, and their hands pulled behind their back. “ _Allura!”_

There were sounds of fighting, and helplessness coiled in Pidge’s gut, but they could do nothing. Then whatever was binding their wrists together dropped, and Pidge quickly ripped the bag off their head. Allura was being dragged away, her wrists bound, her gaze focused desperately on Pidge.

“We got ‘er, let’s head back,” the pirate taking Allura away said to another. “Don’t want to keep _the prince_ waiting.” They both snickered, and Pidge immediately knew they were talking about Prince Keith. Great. What did that guy _want?_

“Oh, what, I’m not good enough to kidnap?” Pidge said scathingly, drawing attention to themselves, despite Allura violently shaking her head at them.

A net fell over them, trapping Pidge underneath. Another pirate easily scooped them up. Pidge just looked at him flatly. “Thank you for reinstating my self-esteem.”

…

“Lance, I’m so sorry, this was all my fault.”

Keith glanced over at the Avatar and her friends, who were now all tied to trees. A sense of pride flashed in his mind, and he risked a tentative smile. It was small and not quite a real smile, more of a twitching of lips, but he felt better. Maybe… maybe this was it. But he had thought that last time, hadn’t he?

No, he had to keep thinking that _this was it._

“No, Allura, it’s not your fault.”

“Actually, it kind of is,” Shiro interjected, and Keith would die happy at the image of Shiro giving what looked like a gentle but was an actually _devious_ smile, and the Avatar- Allura- giving him a violent glare. That might’ve been the most laugh-worthy thing he’d seen all week.

And… thinking that killed his humor.

Keith cleared his throat and turned to the pirate captain. He held out the scroll. “Give me the girl, and you can have your scroll back.”

One of the Avatar’s friends snorted. The small one. “You’re really going to hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?”

Keith immediately went rigid, and he stopped breathing for a second. No. “Don’t listen to them, they’re just… trying to divide us.”

The Unilu pirates all looked between Keith and their prisoners. “Your friend is the Avatar?” 

“Sure is,” Lance said, flashing a bright smile that made Keith wince. “And I bet she’ll fetch a lot more on the black market than a fancy scroll.”

“Be _silent!”_ Keith hissed.

Lance gave him a flat look. “We already had that talk, sweetheart.”

Keith flushed, and he was thankfully saved from replying by Allura.

“Yes, what _are_ you two doing?” she said urgently.

“Oh,” the one with the mustache- what was his name?- cut in, catching on. “Yes, I wager the Emperor would pay a hefty price for the Avatar!”

“You’d be set for life,” the small one concluded with a triumphant look on their face.

Keith barely held himself back from snarling at them all. Only Shiro silently resting a hand on his shoulder restrained him. He forced himself to relax as he looked between the Avatar and the Unilu.

“Keep the scroll!” the captain finally declared. “We can buy a hundred for the reward we’ll get for the girl.” The Unilu, along with the prisoners they had quickly untied from the tree, turned around and began to walk away.

Keith growled under his breath, and he dropped into a fighting stance for a moment before launching into battle.

…

Around them, the Fire Nation soldiers and the Unilu pirates began to fight, and Pidge’s instincts kicked in. When a smokescreen divided them from the firebenders, they fished inside their pocket for their weapon. They pulled out what they had been working on- an object with a knife end that had an electric current running through it. A small grin appeared on their face, and they hit the nearest pirate with the weapon.

A small shock went through the pirate, and Pidge nodded. This would be fine. They stabbed each of the pirates and firebenders they could, until they were certain that at least no one would come for them at the moment. The rest of them, fighting nearby, probably wouldn’t go out of their way to attack Pidge.

“Lance! Allura! Coran! Are any of you there?”

“I’m over here!” Allura shouted. “Follow my voice!” Pidge hesitated, the smoke still blocking Allura from view, their vision blurring from exposure. There was a pause, and Pidge could’ve sworn the smoke vanished for a moment, before Allura said, “Nevermind! I’ll find you!”

Pidge scrambled away from the fight, and soon Allura leaped high into the air and landed at their side.

“I believe I saw Lance and Coran!” Allura exclaimed, and she led the way around the fight towards the shoreline, where the two were pushing the Unilu’s boat, attempting to free it from the sand.

“Help me push this thing,” Lance said. “It’d take the strength of five of me to get this boat into the water!”

Pidge moved to help, then stopped when they saw the look on Allura’s face.

“Or… the strength of two waterbenders.” Allura had a sly expression, like everything was turning out just how she’d planned. Or maybe that was just the reason for Pidge’s sly expression. But that was completely aside from the point.

Lance’s face lit up, and Pidge smiled, knowing that at least they had made up. Even if that wasn’t really the most practical thought at the moment. But they and Coran stepped away, letting Lance and Allura do what they needed to.

They both raised their hands in the air nervously, but they shot each other a glance and began to do the move they had tried earlier, before this whole mess started. Pidge watched, in awe despite their skepticism of bending in general, and grinned as the water brought the boat into the river, freeing it from the sand.

“Everybody, get in!” Lance shouted.

…

Shiro swiftly intervened between Keith and the Unilu captain once he saw the Avatar and her friends take off. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been fighting to prevent that from happening, but he had been a little… preoccupied.

He gave one last glance back at the shoreline before turning fully to the two. “Captain, your ship has set sail, and there’s no longer any point in fighting.”

“Not now, Shiro,” Keith sighed, bringing a hand up to drag over his face. Shiro would have been insulted at that any other day, but at that moment, he was more anxious about other things.

“No, they took your boat.” He gestured down the river, to where the pirate ship was quickly vanishing into the sunrise.

“No!” the pirate captain exclaimed, and he ran off, no more talk of the scroll or further arguments.

“I guess that… didn’t turn out too terribly,” Keith muttered, but then his head jerked up at the laughter of the Unilu, and he scowled as his own ship floated away. “Hey! That’s our boat!”

He ran off, and Shiro just sighed, following slowly behind.

…

“Can you make this boat go any faster?” Lance cried to Coran, who had taken over steering in an attempt to stay out of range of the pirates, but of course, they had caught up anyway, since they had the advantage of Fire Nation tech.

“I’m not sure how! This ship is not Air Nomad-built!”

Privately, Lance wondered why the Air Nomads had ships in the first place, but whatever.

At this point, the pirates were parallel to them, and they began jumping onto the ship. Allura and Pidge jumped into the fight, while Lance did his best to flush them off the ship with waterbending. There were two Unilu left standing, and Pidge and Allura seemed to have that guy handled, so Lance carefully went for the other one.

Going with his gut, Lance’s hands moved in that way he had been trying to do before with the water whip, and the water successfully came up and smacked the pirate in the chest, effectively knocking him off the boat.

“Lance! You did the water whip!” Allura exclaimed from the other side of the ship as she and Pidge shoved their pirate off the ship.

“I couldn’t have done it without your help,” Lance said, grinning at her.

“Could someone help me out here?” Coran cried from where he was tangled up with two of the Unilu. “I tried getting them like _this_ and _one, two, three, sleepytime_ but it doesn’t seem to have worked!

…

Although Allura didn’t get there in time to stop them from flinging Coran away from the wheel and onto the deck of the ship, she _did_ manage to stop them fairly easily, and soon the ship was down two more pirates. But Pidge’s cry of “ _Allura, look!_ ” shook her out of her focus.

They were headed towards a waterfall.

Anxiety twisted in her gut, and she turned around, only to meet a pirate with a knife. Allura stifled a shriek and, without any other options, pulled the whistle she had gotten at the market yesterday out and blew into it, releasing a high-pitched cry that she could hardly hear.

The pirate looked completely unimpressed, but Lance appeared out of nowhere and knocked him off the boat.

“What are you doing?” Lance demanded. “We don’t have time for this!”

Allura looked down at the whistle and nodded. She wasn’t sure why she had done that in the first place. It just felt… right. She followed Lance quickly back up to the front of the ship, where Pidge and Coran were watching the edge come closer and closer.

“We have to do something to stop the ship!” Pidge exclaimed.

“Use your waterbending!” Coran urged.

Lance and Allura lined themselves up and began waterbending, moving their arms back and forth in a way that would hopefully keep them from going off the edge of the waterfall.

“Push and pull the water!” Lance shouted.

“We’re doing it!” Allura said.

“We have another problem,” Coran interrupted, pointing at the rapidly-approaching ship filled with pirates.

The ship hit them straight-on, and they all shouted as the boat tipped sideways. In one last attempt to keep them together, they all grabbed hands and fell together.

 _We’re going to die. We’re_ going to die.

And then there was a familiar roar, and they found themselves lying on soft fur, the waterfall quickly growing smaller behind them. There was a crash as the two ships hit the bottom of the waterfall, and a huge wave went down the river, but all Allura felt of it was a little bit of water hitting her face.

“We’re alive!” Lance crowed, sitting up. “We did it!”

“I knew that whistle would be worth something,” Allura said, pulling the lion whistle out and regarding it with knewfound respect.

“Thanks, Voltron,” Pidge muttered, still not moving from the place they had fallen, their face hidden by the lion’s fur.

Voltron purred, and they all smiled.

…

“The boat!” Keith exclaimed, his voice cracking as he watched the remains float down the river.

Shiro put a hand on his shoulder. “It was just a small boat, we still have the main one at the dock. Plus- I found a Marmora tile!” He pulled it out of his sleeve with a faint smile, and although Keith wasn’t sure if that was Shiro’s attempt at cheering him up or not, Keith couldn’t bring himself to be mad.

“I guess that means we can leave now,” he muttered.

…

“Guys, I’m really sorry,” Lance said. “Getting mad at Allura and sneaking out and getting captured… I’m sorry.”

“I apologize as well,” Allura said. “For using our gac without all of your permission and for taking the scroll in the first place. I’m not quite sure why I even did that.”

“Who needs that stupid scroll anyways?” Pidge declared.

“Well, if that’s truly how you feel, I suppose you won’t need _this!”_ Coran revealed the scroll and held it out with a bright expression.

“You got it? How?” Lance asked, shocked.

“A pirate never reveals his tricks,” Coran said wisely, twirling his mustache thoughtfully.

“Thank you, Coran,” Allura said, smiling. “I suppose using it wouldn’t hurt.”

They all grinned at each other, and despite their exhaustion after such a battle so early in the morning, they couldn’t help but feel proud.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long to update! i lost motivation and watching stuff on kissanime is not the best idea, but i actually have avatar now so hopefully things will move a little bit faster.
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter! i kinda messed with some stuff and allura might seem a little bit out of character but oh well  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	10. Rolo and Nyma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lance may or may not project his feelings onto the first pretty face he sees.  
> pidge is definitely a genius.  
> allura is pretty much done with all of them.  
> coran is as cheerful as ever.

The mice were surprisingly entertained by the forest.

They scurried over tree branches, leaping over one another in their attempt to chase a green-colored beetle. Their chase brought them back down to the forest floor, where they lost sight of the insect. But immediately they spotted a pile of berries. Normally, the mice were much more suspicious of things, but they were in good moods and curious, as well as hungry.

So the mice all gathered around the berries, and almost immediately they were snatched up into the air, caught in a trap. They squeaked anxiously, but despite their best efforts, there was no getting out of this one.

Looking around them, they spotted other animals also caught in cages nearby, which immediately started howling at the sight of the mice.

This wasn’t good.

…

“Where are the mice?” Allura asked as she returned to camp, carrying a log in her arms.

Pidge looked at her and shrugged, but almost immediately, they heard a loud squeak, containing the voices of all of the mice. They all looked at each other and decided to follow the noise.

After about ten minutes of walking, Allura spotted something in the trees. “The mice!” She propelled herself up into the air with her bending and swiftly reached the cages in no time. She gracefully landed on the branch and undid the mechanism, lowering the mice to the ground, where Lance and Pidge freed them.

Allura leaped back down, where she saw the mice eating the berries they had gotten in the cage. She sighed and reached down to allow them to rest on her shoulders. “You know better than this, friends.”

“What about those other fellows?” Coran asked, gesturing towards the remaining animals still hanging in cages.

“I suppose there’s no harm in freeing them as well.” Allura leaped back up to the trees, but Pidge just frowned.

“This is going to take forever.” They pulled out their new favorite weapon, which was a remake of the original they had made a few weeks ago, this time with an added bonus. They clicked the trigger, and the end shot out, revealing an almost grappling hook-like weapon, which shot out and cut through the ropes.

“That works,” Allura said with a grin, returning to the ground. “Pidge, every time I think you couldn’t possibly make any more advances in technology, you find new ways to surprise me.”

Pidge flushed and ducked their head. “It’s nothing really… just something I came up with.”

Lance elbowed them with a sly grin and whispered, “That crush isn’t going away anytime soon, huh?”

Pidge zapped him with their weapon, and he fell to the ground with a small shriek. “That’s what you deserve, idiot.”

Coran clapped his hands energetically. “I’m glad everyone has managed to relax after our latest battles- however, these traps are Fire Nation craftsmanship. It would be best if we continued our journey north.”

They all sighed and trudged back to camp.

…

“Wait,” Lance said as they loaded the last pack back onto Voltron. “Maybe we… shouldn’t fly?”

“Why not?” Allura asked.

“Well…” Lance shrugged. He wasn’t really the “smart one” of the group, so maybe he was wrong, but… “Think about it. Keith and the Fire Nation have to be tracking us somehow. Voltron is this big, supposedly extinct creature that flies in the sky, so they can probably see us really easily, right?”

Pidge smacked their forehead. “Of course. That’s… that’s obvious. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before!”

Allura nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I suppose so. But… it will take us so much longer.”

“Well, when a leader’s instincts tell him something, he follows them,” Lance said. “And my instincts are telling me not to fly today!”

“You’re the leader?” Pidge said flatly.

“Allura’s the leader!” Coran exclaimed.

“Well- yeah, but a leader is a warrior, and I’m a warrior, so- so I’m a leader!”

“We’re all warriors,” Allura observed. “Except perhaps Coran, but he plays a role just as important.”

“Well, maybe no one needs to be the leader,” Pidge said with a shrug. “Why do you feel like you have to? Maybe you wouldn’t be so bossy if you kissed a girl- or a boy. Whatever your bi dreams desire.”

“That seems like an enormous jump in logic,” Allura put in.

“I’ve kissed people!” Lance exclaimed. “Well,  _ a _ girl. You just… haven’t met her yet. And probably won’t ever. Because my heart belongs to another.”

Pidge rolled their eyes. “Who, Jenny Shabon? That girl that showed up once because she thought she was in the North Pole?”

“No!” Lance exclaimed. “Well- other than Jenny Shabon. Or the other Jenny.”

“Who the-”

“Nevermind! Anyway, like I said, you’ll never meet her. Hopefully. And besides, my love lies with a gorgeous firebender that will never truly accept our mutual feelings-”

Pidge shoved him, laughing a little. “Alright, okay. Maybe you’ll get your beautiful prince someday. But maybe aim a little lower?”

Lance pouted, but in the end, they went with his decision to walk through the forest.

“Perhaps it will be fun!” Allura had said, putting an end to the discussion.

…

Three hours later, Allura’s excitement at walking had long vanished. “This is most definitely  _ not _ fun.”

“I’m too small for this pack,” Pidge said with a sigh. “Why are we not letting Voltron carry this stuff?”

Voltron rumbled and flicked her tail at Pidge, who stumbled and fell with a groan. “Okay, fine.”

“I’m tired too, guys,” Lance said, clearing a bush that was obscuring his view of the path up ahead. “But at least we’re safe from the Fire-” He froze, fear flooding him. Lance swallowed anxiously. “...Nation.”

They had walked straight into a Fire Nation camp.

“Run!” Allura shouted.

In their panic, they all dropped their bags in hope that they would run faster. They turned back the direction they came, but the forest suddenly burst into flames.

“We’re cut off!” Pidge exclaimed. “And-”

“Coran, you’re on fire!” Allura yelled.

“What? Huh?” Coran looked around, then looked at his arm. “Oh- holy quiznak-”

Lance uncorked his bending water, and he splashed Coran, quickly dousing the fire, before glancing behind them. He definitely did not have enough water to put out that kind of fire.

He turned his attention to where the soldiers were slowly getting closer- they were surrounded.

“If you let us free, we will not harm you,” Allura called to the soldiers.

“What are you doing?” Pidge whispered anxiously, glancing between Allura and the firebenders.

“Bluffing,” Allura whispered back.

“ _ You _ promise not to hurt  _ us? _ ” The leader said sarcastically. “Right. And I-”

But before he could finish his sentence, a small noise of an arrow being released reached their ears, and the leader fell down onto the ground with a groan. An arrow stuck out of his back.

“How did that happen?” Coran asked.

“I… I’m not quite sure,” Allura said.

“Look!” Lance exclaimed, pointing up at the trees. Upon the branches stood a man and a woman, and although they couldn’t make out either of their features, the two were clearly not in any sort of uniform.

After a moment, they both jumped down from the trees, the man with two swords and the woman with a gleaming dagger. They easily took down the unsuspecting firebenders in only a few moments.

The team stared at them for a few moments as they looked around at the damage.

“Woah! That was crazy!” Lance exclaimed.

“You took out an entire army with ease,” Allura said to the pair. “That was… incredible.”

“Thanks,” the man said. “I’m Rolo, and this is Nyma.” He gestured to the woman beside him, and now that Lance got a good look-

“Woah, she’s beautiful,” Lance whispered. Thankfully, no one heard him, so Pidge couldn’t violently shove him or something.

Speaking of Pidge, they seemed pretty suspicious of everything- until they spotted something hiding behind one of the Fire Nation tents.

“A robot!” they exclaimed, racing towards it and bouncing around. “This is the sort of technology the Fire Nation keeps under wraps, and the rest of the world always dreams of! It’s… it’s amazing!”

Was that a single tear of happiness?

Yes, yes it was.

“Yeah, that’s Beezer,” Rolo said. “We got it on our way out of the Fire Nation prisons.”

“Fire Nation prisons?” Coran asked with a frown.

“We’ll tell you once we get back to the hideout- if you want to see it?” Nyma suggested, and with that smile and those eyes, how could Lance say no?

“Of course!” he said brightly, and although Coran and Allura looked a little more suspicious, they agreed, and they followed Rolo and Nyma through the trees.

After a little bit of walking, Rolo gestured to a rope hanging down from the trees. “Grab on, old guy.”

“I am thirty-six years young, thank you very much,” Coran objected, but he grabbed on, and the rope shot him into the air with a shout.

“Allura?” Rolo asked, but she shook her head.

“I can get up by myself,” she said, and with a little bit of airbending, she had vanished into the red leaves.

“Lance, would you like to go next?” Nyma asked.

Lance nodded, and he grabbed onto the rope- but before it brought him into the trees, Nyma wrapped her arms around him, and they went up together. Lance grinned, and after a few moments, he felt Nyma rest her head on his shoulder, and a small blush warmed his cheeks.

Not too bad. Maybe he didn’t need a dramatic love story with an enemy prince. After all, this was the second girl that didn’t seem to be against the idea of liking him…

When they reached the top, Lance gasped. “This place is awesome!”

“Thanks,” Nyma said, releasing her hold on him and stepping back. “We’ve been working on it for a while.”

Nyma and Rolo’s hideout consisted of several platforms and tents scattered around the nearby trees. It was like something straight out of a fantasy book- and Lance loved it.

Pidge, Beezer, and Rolo finally made it up, and the group gathered together on one of the platforms.

“This place is great, and most importantly, the Fire Nation can’t find us here,” Rolo said.

“Yeah, and they’d love to find us,” Nyma said with a sigh. “Guess they’re not the type to forgive and forget.”

“How did you end up fighting the Fire Nation?” Allura asked curiously.

“We’ve been causing them a little trouble over the years,” Rolo explained. “Some… stolen merchandise here and there. A few patrols taken out every once in a while.”

“They took over an Earth Kingdom town a few years back, and we’ve been fighting them here ever since,” Nyma added. “One day, we’ll drive them out of here for good.”

“That’s so cool,” Lance said, in awe.

“Yep, nothing cooler than two kids and their robot in a treehouse,” Pidge called as they continued studying Beezer, furiously scribbling notes down in their journal.

“We’ve all lost something to the Fire Nation,” Rolo said. “I lost my family and my leg.” He knocked against his leg, and a hollow, metallic sound rang through the air.

“I know how that feels,” Allura said softly. She reached up to her face under the guise of fixing her hair, but her hand brushed her pink markings instead.

Lance frowned and he thought of the lightness where his anklet was supposed to be.  _ Keith  _ had it. But- he glanced up at Nyma, who smiled and casually slipped her hand into his. Maybe he didn’t need Keith, and maybe he didn’t need some jewelry to keep his family’s memories alive.

…

That night, they all sat around a fire- which seemed a little dangerous in very flammable trees, but oh well. They ate the food they had taken from the Fire Nation camp, and it wasn’t half bad.

“You guys did some great bending out there,” Rolo told Lance and Allura. “I could use your help on something tomorrow morning if you’re willing.”

“Sure,” Lance said immediately, then paused and looked at Allura, who simply shrugged and nodded. “Why not?”

Pidge paused in their study to look up at Lance and Allura. “Shouldn’t we… get going soon?”

“It’s just one thing, and it won’t take long, right?” Lance glanced at Nyma, who was sitting beside him. She nodded.

“Then I suppose there’s no reason not to help,” Coran said, although his usual cheer was slightly dampened- by what? Suspicion? Lance was  _ pretty sure _ that Rolo and Nyma were fine. Especially Nyma. She was pretty fine.

“I have a job for you two, if you’d like to take it,” Rolo offered to Pidge and Coran. “It’s work with Beezer, fairly simple, but it would save us some time.”

Pidge’s eyes practically sparkled at the chance to see the robot in action. “Sure!”

…

“So what exactly is this thing you need our help on?” Lance asked Nyma cheerfully.

It was early morning. The four of them were quietly walking through the woods- Lance, Allura, Nyma, and Rolo. Lance didn’t mind helping these guys out- they were freedom fighters, just like him and his group. They should really come up with a team name. Like… Team Voltron. Or something. Because Voltron was flying them halfway across the world, and the lion lady deserved some recognition.

But that aside, Lance didn’t mind. Especially because it meant he got to spend time with  _ Nyma. _ And no, he was  _ not  _ projecting his feelings for a certain beautiful firebender onto the first pretty girl other than Allura that he sees. And he’s only conscious of this fact because Pidge accused him of it. Lance had definitely not thought about that before. Besides, it was ridiculous to like someone that he and the rest of his friends considered an  _ enemy. _

That would be stupid. And Lance wasn’t the dumb one. He was the cool ninja sharpshooter guy. Because he was a waterbender, plus he used his boomerang sometimes…

Yeah. You get the point.

“The Fire Nation plans on burning down our forest,” Rolo responded darkly to the question Lance barely remembered he asked- he did not have a short attention span! “If you two use your waterbending to get the water from the reservoirs, we can fight the fire.”

“Will Pidge and Coran be a safe distance from the fires?” Allura asked, her face the picture of concern. “It seems this might be dangerous if we make even the smallest mistake.”

“They should be,” Nyma said lightly. “Beezer can take care of them anyway if he needs to. Fire Nation robots are surprisingly advanced.”

Lance imagined the field day Pidge was probably having right now with studying that robot. They were probably going crazy, taking a ton of excited notes that they’d probably complain about later as being too messy. Every time that happens, Lance reads the notes and says that they’re way better than his handwriting.

He doesn’t know how Pidge does it.

The group fell into a silence that was probably a little uncomfortable- but Lance pretended he didn’t notice and sidled up to Nyma. “So… after this. You and me. A nice candle-lit dinner, watching the sunset, that sorta thing? You know… a date?”

Nyma giggled. “You are a cute one.”

Lance decided to count that as a win.

Allura, who was trailing slightly behind Lance, suddenly let out a yelp. Lance watched as she flew a few feet in the air. Steam was coming from the place where she had been standing.

“We’re here,” Rolo said. “Underground water is trying to escape the vents, and I need you to help it along.”

Lance frowned. “I’ve never tried bending on water I can’t see…”

“Well,” Nyma said, “I guess I could go try to find some other handsome waterbender…”

“No, I can do it!” Lance gave a panicked grin and moved his hands up randomly, hoping that did something. He wasn’t totally sure if it did- you know, because it’s steam and all- but Nyma nodded approvingly and slid her hand around his waist. Lance’s grin and the blush to match was definitely a mix of panicked and excited.

Allura went to the opposite side of the vent Lance was standing by, and they moved their arms in sync, collecting the steam and turning it into water. Little beads of sweat and water had formed on their heads, but Lance was kinda too busy focusing on the girl tucked into his side to care.

Then, eventually, what came out of the vents was water. Lance smiled brightly as a little bit splashed onto his face on its way to the river.

“You did it!” Nyma said, pressing herself into Lance’s side even more, and holy quiznak, how was he even functioning at this point?

“This river empties into the reservoir, so a few more geysers and it’ll be full,” Rolo explained.

“Well, we’re surrounded by steam vents, so this shouldn’t be too difficult,” Allura said brightly.

Allura and Lance- and Nyma, since she was now apparently attached to Lance, although Lance definitely wasn’t complaining- made their way to the next steam vent and started up their rhythm once more.

“You guys can keep on doing that,” Rolo called. “I’m going to go check on things at the reservoir.” He shot Nyma a look, which the girl nodded to- what was that about?- before turning and leaving.

Allura looked like she did  _ not _ want to be left alone with Lance and Nyma- and who could blame her? Hey, maybe Lance wanted her to leave so they could have some  _ alone time- _ but she continued with the task they had been given.

…

“I think this should be enough,” Allura said eventually. They had done at least six geysers at this point, and the river was looking significantly larger. “Perhaps we should meet Rolo at the reservoir and… see the efforts of our work?”

Lance wondered if that weird tone in her voice was suspicion. He was suspicious of her motivation, at least- even he wasn’t oblivious to whatever affection she had for Pidge, and of course, she cared about Coran. He would’ve thought that she wanted to go back, see them again as soon as possible.

So what was up with this?

“Rolo told us to meet up with him at camp,” Nyma said, her voice suddenly colder, that honey turned to venom.

“Well, I’m just curious about how he plans to put out those fires by himself without the help of a waterbender?”

And that was when Lance knew something was definitely up. But he didn’t act on it, wrapping an arm around Nyma’s shoulders. Hopefully, that was a gesture of support? He didn’t  _ want _ to think that this was… betrayal or something. No, no way was this betrayal. He totally trusted Nyma, and she probably knew what Rolo was up to, so… they were all good. Right? Right.

“Listen, this really is a shame,” Nyma said frostily, shaking off Lance’s arm and stepping towards Allura. “But I think that it’s time we establish something.”

“Establish what, exactly?” Allura demanded. “Are we not perfectly clear on what’s going on? Or is there a fire at all?”

Lance  _ really _ didn’t want to believe what he was witnessing.

Nyma pulled her dagger out from its place on her belt. “Sorry, Lance. I really did like you.”

And then she started to lunge towards Allura, but before she could reach the Avatar-

A block of ice hit her on the head, and she fell down to the ground, knocked completely unconscious.

“What… Lance? Did you do that?” Allura gasped, looking between Nyma’s still body and Lance, who had his hands up like he was either surrendering or in the middle of bending.

“Yeah,” Lance muttered, lowering his hands. That felt… wrong somehow, even though she had betrayed his trust first. But… he would get over it. There were bigger problems to deal with. “Should we go get Pidge and Coran and get out of here?”

Allura gave an exasperated sigh. “Lance, if that was my plan, we would have just agreed with Nyma! No, we’re going to the reservoir, and we’re going to stop Rolo from doing… whatever nefarious thing he’s up to.”

Lance nodded, and he shot one last look at Nyma before running after Allura. It was time to go do heroic things.

…

“Coran, come look at this!”

Pidge’s tone was urgent enough for Coran to dart over to whatever they had found. When he arrived, he realized that Beezer was completely dismantled, one of the only things left intact being some sort of recording. This technology was beyond Coran, and he stared as audio filtered out from the robot.

_ “You sure about this plan, Nyma? I mean, it seems kinda…” _

_ “Oh, shut it, Rolo. If we carry through on this, the Fire Nation will be totally gone from this valley, and you know that’s the goal. Who cares if there's a few casualties along the way? We can suffer this loss. Those people don’t have any sort of rebellious spirit.” _

_ “Yeah, uh… we can deal with this. So you get the Avatar and ‘Loverboy Lance’ to do what you need, and I blow up the dam?” _

_ “Seems simple enough.” _

Pidge looked up at Coran. “We need to save those people! Rolo’s going to blow up the dam, and probably soon- Lance and Allura have been gone for hours!”

“You’re right,” Coran said. “We may not be able to stop the attack itself, but… perhaps we can convince them to leave?”

“Then we’d better do it quick.”

…

When Lance and Allura arrived at the cliff overlooking the dam, they had only seconds before it exploded, water rushing out and flooding the village. Allura couldn’t even see Rolo.

“All of those people…” Allura whispered, her eyes wide. “Lance, what do we do?”

“I don’t know, you’re the Avatar, not me! Aren’t you supposed to know?”

“Me? I don’t know anything, Lance I-” Allura was interrupted by a familiar thundering roar.

Voltron swooped up from the valley where the village was, Pidge steering the reins and Coran simply in for the ride.

“Luckily for everyone, I do,” Pidge announced rather dramatically. “Don’t worry, I saved the day, blah blah blah, we should probably stop Rolo.”

“But… but how?” Allura asked in disbelief as she clambered onto Voltron’s back, Lance following. “We didn’t even realize until it was too late. Are all of those people…?”

“Dead?” Coran finished. “No, we saved them! It was rather simple, really. As it turned out, they worshipped winged lions such as Voltron, and it was easy to convince them to follow the orders of their goddess.”

“That… is ridiculously convenient,” Lance said with a grin. “Now, how are we going to stop Rolo?”

“Do we need to?” Allura asked tentatively. “It seems he’s already done all the damage he possibly could, and we’ve already resolved those issues, so perhaps… we should simply let him and Nyma go free?”

“Oh, did your new fling not work?” Pidge asked sarcastically.

“Shut it, Pidge. But… I agree with Allura. There’s not much more we can do.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Shall we move on to our next adventure, then?” Coran asked brightly.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Allura responded with an exhausted sigh.

Time to face their next dangerous opponent. It was really ridiculous, how many incidents they were having just to fly from the South Pole to the North.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol okay maybe that was a bit of a lazy ending but like,,, i could've written this a long time ago, i was just lazy.
> 
> good news! i got a new computer so hopefully updates will be a bit more frequent.
> 
> sorry for taking forever to write this.
> 
> note: i'm skipping the great divide, which is the next episode, so just,,, be aware of that, and if that's your favorite episode,,, sorry? but the next two episodes are some of my favorites, so with luck, they'll be done quicker.


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